Abstract:
A closure for increasing the storage life of perishables, which comprises a material with heating or cooling properties; a closure chamber comprising a chamber wall configured to house the material with heating or cooling properties; a seal structure for sealing or engaging the closure chamber to a perishable storage container for controlling the temperature in a perishable storage container; a fastening system to secure the closure chamber on a perishable storage container allowing the material with heating or cooling properties to act on stored perishables. The closure may act as part of a closure system that contains the closure with or without the material; and the container that stores perishables and may accommodates the material with heating or cooling properties in many configurations.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application discloses and claims only subject matter disclosed in prior application Ser. No. 15/084,046, filed Mar. 29, 2016, and names the inventor in the prior application. Accordingly, this application may constitute a continuation or divisional. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    In the transport or temporary storage of perishables, maintaining their value or integrity is paramount. For purposes of this discussion, “perishables” are things that need to maintain a certain temperature or temperature range to retain their integrity or value. When electric refrigeration is not readily available, coolers with ice or ice packs are often used for storage and transport in the medical, laboratory, film, beverage, food or other industries. People often transport perishables, such as food requiring refrigeration or heat to maintain its integrity in plastic or glass storage containers for later consumption. The sealed plastic and glass storage containers are traditionally refrigerated for temporary storage and transport in coolers with ice or ice packs, this however, often results in a bulky package, which is cumbersome to transport. People that forgo using a cooling method because of the inconvenience risk perishable spoilage. On the other hand, hot food or other perishables are traditionally heavily insulated to maintain their integrity or value. However, without a heat source the integrity or value may lapse quickly. If perishables could be transported conveniently while maintaining their integrity, this could greatly improve the art. 
         [0003]    Containers for transporting perishables come in all sizes and shapes, this often makes it difficult to find the rights cooler or insulating jacket to accommodate the container. In addition, the different types of perishables transported and stored in containers have different temperature requirements for maintaining their integrity or value. If the containers and cooing or heating mechanisms could be configured per container, transportation and storage of perishables could be more effective. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    The problem of keeping perishables cold or hot during storage and transport, and the inconvenience of using separate bulky coolers and ice packs for this purpose is solved by a chamber that contains or receives a substance with a high heat of fusion, high specific heat capacity, or capable of under going an endothermic or exothermic reaction at ambient temperature, where the chamber is attached to a closure configurable to fit a perishable storage or transport container, or where the chamber is configured to a container in a manner that addresses the shape and size of the container and needs of the perishable being stored or transported. 
     
    
     
       DRAWINGS 
         [0005]    These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where: 
           [0006]      FIG. 1  shows a top side view of an embodiment of the closure system with a utensil holder. 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  shows an elevation view of a version of the closure system. 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  shows a cross section view of a select part of a version of the closure system highlighting the closure chamber. 
           [0009]      FIG. 4  shows a top view of an embodiment of the container portion of the closure system. 
           [0010]      FIG. 5  shows a top side view of a version of the closure system without a utensil holder. 
           [0011]      FIG. 6  shows the bottom side of a version of the closure. 
           [0012]      FIG. 7  shows an elevation view of an embodiment of the closure system featuring a version of a base chamber for cooling and heating. 
           [0013]      FIG. 8  shows a top side view of a version of the closure system. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION 
       [0014]    The term perishables as used herein applies equally to things that need to retain heat, as well as, things that need to stay cold to maintain their integrity or value. As shown in  FIG. 6  and  FIG. 3 , an embodiment of a closure  2  comprises a material with heating and cooling properties  9 , a closure chamber  24 , a seal structure  17  and a part of a fastening system  4 ,  5 , and  11  (As shown in  FIG. 3 , the other part of the fastening system  10  is attached to a container  3 ). 
         [0015]    The material with heating and cooling properties  9  may be configured to fit the needs of the perishable stored or transported. If the perishable needs refrigeration, the material  9  may be a substance with a high heat of fusion such as water, gel refrigerant, dry ice or an other substance; or a substance capable of undergoing an endothermic reaction at ambient temperature. If the perishable needs to retain heat, the material  9  may be a substance with a high specific heat capacity, such as water or a substance capable of undergoing a chemical exothermic reaction. The material  9  may be permanently contained in the closure chamber  24  or it may be separately contained such that it is removable from the closure chamber  24 . The same is said for other chambers including a base chamber  23 , and a wall chamber  21 , shown in  FIGS. 4 and 7 . The material  9  maybe permanently contained or removable from the closure chamber  24 , base chamber  23  or the wall chamber  21 . If separately contained, the material  9  may be contained in a flexible pouch or a hard pouch for easy removal for recharging or replacing. The pouches are recharged by adding heat or cold. As shown in  FIG. 4 , a pouch  13  with a pouch corner  14  is contained in wall chamber  21  and filled with material  9 . 
         [0016]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , the closure chamber  24  contains material  9  and the chamber wall  8  completely encapsulates the closure chamber  24  where the material  9  is stored. As shown in  FIGS. 6 &amp; 8 , the closure  2  has an opening  18  for filling the closure chamber  24  with material  9 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , the opening  18  is permanently sealed after it is filled. In the alternative, as shown in  FIG. 7 , the closure chamber  24  has a screw top for opening and closing. The opening  18 , may take on another form suitable for inserting and removing a soft or hard pouch  13  containing material  9 . An opening for inserting a pouch into closure chamber  24  may be a door on the top of the closure  2  or on the bottom of the closure  2  with a locking or latching mechanism to hold the door in place. In the alternative, the opening may be on the side wall of the closure chamber  24   a . Any convenient configuration could work. 
         [0017]    A version of a soft pouch  13  is shown in  FIG. 4 . The pouch  13  is configured to fit ergonomically around the corners (where pouch corner  14  is shown) of the wall chamber  13 , the corner pouch  14  having an inner length that is shorter than the outer length or a thinness to accommodate corners. The pouch  13  may be optimized to fill the volume of the wall chamber  21  or minimized to fill less than the volume of the wall chamber  21  if less material  9  is needed to act on the perishables. These same configurations could be made to fit the needs of the closure chamber  24  and the base chamber  24 . The wall chamber  21  is comprised of 
         [0018]    In one embodiment, the pouch  13  could be configured to fit in the wall chamber  21  of the container  3 , where the container  3  has a concave shape with an opening at the top, like a bowl. In this configuration, the pouch  13  is be shaped in the form of several triangles, the flats of one side of the triangles would run along the top edge of the wall chamber  21 , the bottom tips of the triangles would approach the base of the wall chamber  21 , which extends to the base of the container. The triangles could be separate or formed together with a connection feature that allowed for flexibility and ergonomic bend of the the triangles around the concave shape of the wall chamber  21 . The wall chamber  21  is sized to fit a pouch  13 . 
         [0019]    The top of the closure  2  as shown in  FIG. 5  may be a flat surface. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the top of the closure  2  may contain a depression  6  for holding a utensil  7 . The utensil  7  contacts the walls of the depression  6  and is held in by friction. A cover (not shown) may be used to cover the utensil  7  and is held in the depression  6  by friction caused by the side walls of the depression  6 . 
         [0020]    In another embodiment of the invention, the closure  2  has a raised center debossed feature  27 , allowing for the expansion of freezing liquid, an opening  18 , a cap  26  and a cap receiver  28  for filling and emptying the closure chamber  24  with material  6 . The debossed feature  27  is configured to prevent it from filling with material  9 , when the closure chamber  24  is filled with material  9 . The cap  26  and cap receiver  28  may be a screw cap configuration or any other type of cap packaging system that prevents liquid from leaking out of the closure chamber  24 . 
         [0021]    The closure chamber  24  may be designed in a variety of ways such that its base, the base being on the side of the closure chamber  24  that interacts with the container  3 , extends into the container  3 , is flush with the top of the container  3  or recessed above container  3 . In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 7 , the closure chamber  24  extends into the container  3 , this is preferable for cooling and heating. As shown in  FIG. 6 , the closure chamber  24  is surrounded by a seal structure  17  that may contain a rubber, silicon, other type of gasket or no gasket at all for engaging the top of the container rim  20 . 
         [0022]    In another embodiment of the invention, pouch  13  may be configured to snap on to the inside or outside of the outer wall  15 . In this version of the invention the inner wall  14  and thus,  21  the wall chamber is not present. The pouch  13  may be a standard reusable cold pack that is square, or rectangular. The pouch  13  may snap into the outer wall  15  with a snap fit assembly, whereby the outer wall  15  and pouch  13  have mating elements which possess a temporary interference during assembly, but once assembled they interlock. Pouch  13  may also snap fit onto the inner or outer wall of the closure  2  and/or container base  30 . In this version, the closure chamber  24  and/or base chamber  23  are not present. The pouch  13  may be shaped to fit the closure  2  and/or container base  30 . The pouch  13  may be attached with Velcro, screwed on, or fastened in any other manner. The snap fit assembly may be incorporated into the walls of the closure system  1 , whereby a pouch  13  with square corners will snap fit into the closure  2 , and/or container base  30  and/or outer wall  15 . In this configuration, each inside square corner of the closure  2  and/or container base  30  and/or outer wall  15  fits tightly with each outside corner of a pouch  13 , which may be a standard sized hard reusable ice pack. 
         [0023]    As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , a part of a fastening system  4 ,  5 , and  11  is connected to the top of the closure  2 . A plurality of tabs  4  are connected along the top outside edge of the closure  2 , equally distributed on all sides. The tab  4  may contain a tab lining  5  made with a soft pliable material such as silicon or another material for comfortable opening and closing. As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 6 , the tab  4  contains one or more latches  11  for engaging a base latch lip  10  for the purpose of securing the closure  2  to the container  3 . The closure system  1  comprises of the closure  2  and the container  3 . The fastening system comprising  4 ,  5 ,  10 , and  11  may be different than shown and described above. The closure  2  and the container  3  may be fastened by a screw cap system; closure lip  25  may act as a latch, latching onto the container rim  20 ; or any other type of packaging closure mechanism. 
         [0024]    The closure  2  can be configured to fit on a wide variety of shaped and sized containers. The closure  2  could be round, square, oval, or rectangular. The closure chamber  24  is configurable to meet the thermal needs of the perishable in a container or container  3 . The depth of the closure chamber  24  can vary in size depending on the amount of cooling or heating the perishable requires. The varying depth of the closure chamber, as well as the diameter or length and width limits the amount of material  9  that can be contained in the closure chamber  24 . The placement of material  9  in chambers  21 ,  23 , and  24  can be configured to meet the thermal and size needs of a perishable. The closure  2  may not need a closure chamber  24  when the base chamber  23  provides sufficient thermal engagement, or vice-versa. The side chamber is configurable and can take the place of chamber  24  or chamber  23  if the needs of the perishable call for a certain configuration. 
         [0025]    The container  3  for storing perishables comprises an outer wall  15  and an inner wall  16 , the outer wall  15  and inner wall  16  may run parallel to each other and may be of similar heights; the wall chamber  21  created by the inner wall  15  and outer wall  16  for containing the material  9  for heating or cooling; an opening  29  on the wall chamber  21  top for inserting and removing the material  9  with heating or cooling properties; a container base  30  connected to the bottom of the inner wall  15  and the outer wall  16 , a container cavity  12  bounded by the inner wall  15  and the container base  12  for holding perishables. The wall chamber may be of different shapes and sizes necessary to accommodate material  9 . For example, the inner wall  15  and outer wall  16  may be convex, concave or linear. The wall chamber  3  may be located in the center of the container  3  with the container cavity  12  surrounding the wall chamber  3  and the container cavity  12  being bounded by the outer wall  15 . The wall chamber  21  could be tubular to allow for a larger amount of material  9 . The inner wall  16  and outer wall  15  may be comprised of insulation, plastic, or a moisture barrier. The outer portion of the base chamber  23  may be a guard or a guide rail for securing the pouch to the container base. The guard or guide rail (not shown) may be attached to the base chamber  23  or removable. 
         [0026]    The closure  1  and the closure system  2  can easily be made in a couple steps. In one embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 6 , a portion of the closure  1  comprising closure tab  4 , Latch  11 , seal structure  17  (excluding any gasket), closure lip  25 , chamber wall  8  (excluding chamber lid  22 ), can be created by injection molding in a single unit. The closure chamber lid  22  is then molded in separately and sealed with a technique, “Branded live with iron” at interface  19 . The opening  18  is then filled with material  9 . Once filled, the opening  18  is sealed closed. Additionally, the tab lining  5  may be added to the tab  4 , and a gasket may be added to seal structure  17  if desired. Closure system  2  may be made with similar techniques. This is just one example of the steps and method involved. The closure  1  and the closure system  2  maybe comprised in part of insulation, moisture barrier, plastic, metal, rubber or any suitable material. However, the process and techniques for making closure  1  and the closure system  2  would have to be modified. The injection molding is preferred, but another method may be just as suitable.