Abstract:
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.

Description:
[0001]     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 INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     This invention relates to a coolable container which is particularly, but not exclusively, suitable for use with food and/or drink.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     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.  
         [0006]     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.  
         [0007]     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.  
         [0008]     The present invention seeks to provide a coolable container in which the above problems are significantly reduced or obviated.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]     According 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.  
         [0010]     Either the base is hollow and the wall or walls are solid or both the base and the wall(s) are hollow.  
         [0011]     The base may be full of the freezable material while the wall(s) may be filled or only partly filled with the freezable material.  
         [0012]     The container may be provided with a lid and the lid may be hollow and filled with freezable material.  
         [0013]     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.  
         [0014]     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.  
         [0015]     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.  
         [0016]     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  
       [0017]      FIG. 1  is a schematic perspective exploded view of a container and lid in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.  
         [0018]      FIG. 2  is a view of the container similar to that shown in  FIG. 1  but in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention.  
         [0019]      FIG. 3  is a view similar to  FIG. 2 , but showing a container in accordance with a third embodiment of the invention.  
         [0020]      FIG. 4  is a schematic sectional view taken on the line IV-IV of  FIG. 3 .  
         [0021]      FIG. 5  is a sectional view similar to  FIG. 4  but in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0022]     Referring firstly to  FIG. 1  there is shown a coolable container  1  of a rectangular construction having a base  3  and four upstanding walls  5  extending upwardly from and surrounding the base  3 . The container is preferably made from a suitable plastics material of a type able to withstand the temperatures of a freezer without becoming brittle. Although, for descriptive purposes, the container  1  is shown as transparent, it may nevertheless be suitably opaque and of any desirable colour.  
         [0023]     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.  
         [0024]     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.  
         [0025]     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.  
         [0026]     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 .  
         [0027]     There are a number of different solutions to the problem. These will now be discussed.  
         [0028]     A second embodiment of the container  1  is shown in  FIG. 2 . Here not only is the base  3  hollow but the walls  5  are also hollow and are provided with cavities  7 . While the base  3  is filled with the freezable material as before, in this case, the wall cavities  7  are half filled with the freezable material  9 . This embodiment will produce a greater cooling effect on the contents of the container  1  than is the case of the first embodiment which only has the freezable material  9  in the base  3 .  
         [0029]     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  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 .  
         [0030]     A still further improvement can be made by surrounding the entire container  1  with a vacuum. This is shown in the embodiment of  FIG. 5 . Here both the walls  5  and the base  3  have inner and outer cavities formed by using a three skin structure. The inner cavity  7  is filled with the freezable material  9  while the outer cavity  15  contains a vacuum.  
         [0031]     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  FIG. 1  but may also be a hollow two skin lid containing freezable material. Even a three skin construction could be used to form two cavities, the one nearest to the inside of the container having freezable material and the other cavity containing a vacuum.  
         [0032]     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.  
         [0033]     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.  
         [0034]     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.  
         [0035]     It should also be borne in mind that various combinations of the features described may be used. For example, in the embodiment of  FIG. 1 , the base could have a three skin structure so as to have both freezer material and vacuum. The plain walls of this embodiment could be replace by walls having a single cavity containing vacuum. The lid could have a single cavity containing vacuum.  
         [0036]     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.