Abstract:
A food container having a separable refrigerant section comprising:  
     a container part having an open upper end and a lower end with a bottom;  
     a separable lid configured and sized to sealingly and releasably engage the open upper end of the container part;  
     a refrigerant section having an top end and a bottom end and said top end being configured and sized to releasingly engage the lower end of the container part.

Description:
[0001]    Applicant claims priority based on provisional application No. 60/329,875 filed Oct. 18, 2001 for claims 1 through 4 inclusive. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The invention relates to insulating containers and more particularity to containers incorporating a substance known to hold heat or cold for a long period of time.  
           [0004]    2. Description of the Relevant Art  
           [0005]    Thermos bottles and ice coolers have been known in the art for a long time. Smaller containers such as serving dish have also incorporated a separable section in which to put hot or cold water or ice. In recent years, several inventions related to beverage containers and incorporating “gel packs” have been introduced such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,422 by Gordon and U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,176 by Johnson. There is U.S. Pat. No. 4,287,943 by Masashi which discloses a box which contains an element made to receive hot or cold water which can be inserted inside the box and U.S. Pat. No. 5,701,757 by Heverly which discloses a container having a separable compartment in which can be introduced one or more gel packs.  
           [0006]    None of the prior art offers a very simple three part container which can be cheaply manufactured to the point of being disposable with interchangeable parts to fit between different sized containers.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    It is an object of this invention to provide an economical container that offers a means to keep its content cool for a prolonged period of time.  
           [0008]    It is another object of this invention to provide for a modular construction that allows for the separation of the three components: the lid, the container and the refrigerant section.  
           [0009]    It is yet another object of this invention to allow for two or more units to be stacked one on top of the other by inserting the bottom of the refrigerant section into the lid of the container below.  
           [0010]    It is a further object of this invention to provide for containers sections to be shaped in a slightly fluted configuration so that when the refrigerant sections and the lids are removed, several empty containers can fit inside one another to reduce storage space.  
           [0011]    It should be understood that this invention is not limited as to the size and shape of it&#39;s components and that the container part can be divided into compartments for use as dip dish while remaining inside the scope of a single invention. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 Is an isometric view showing the three major parts separated.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 Is a side elevation detail of the cinture and rabbet of the various components.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 Is a side elevation detail of the cinture and rabbet of an alternate embodiment of the various components.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIGS. 4 a b  Are two views of two different embodiments of the containers, stacked.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIGS. 5 a b  Shows examples of turther embodiments. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0017]    [0017]FIG. 1 A container  10  has a separable lid  1  has an outside rabbet  2  and an inner cincture  3  both being around the periphery of the said separable lid  1  which can be sealably attached to a container part  4  at its upper end by way of a top sealing cincture  5  situated around the periphery of the said upper end of the said container part  4  which is generally positioned atop a refrigerant section  6  and said refrigerant section  6  is itself separable and can be sealably attached to the lower end of the container part  4  by way of a sealing rabbet  7  which cooperates with the bottom sealing cincture  8  of the container part  4 .  
         [0018]    To utilize the container  20 , one must first place the refrigerant section  6  in the freezer to bring the freezing agent inside it as cold as possible. Once the user is ready to put food inside the container part  4 , the lid  1  is sealably attached to the container  10 , the refrigerant section  6  is taken out of the freezer and sealably attached to the bottom of the container part  4 .  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 In this side elevation we see in greater detail how the various parts cooperate. The refrigerant section  6  has a refrigerant cincture  9  situated around the perimeter of its bottom and said refrigerant cincture  9  is sealably attached to the inner cincture  3  of the lid  1 ′ of another container  4 ′ on top of which the refrigerant section  6  is situated. The lid  1 ′ is also sealably attached to the container  4 ′ by way of cooperation between its outside rabbet  2 ′ and the container&#39;s  4 ′ top sealing cincture  5 ′. The top part of the refrigerant section  6  is, as described in FIG. 1, attached to the container  4  by way of cooperation between the sealing rabbet  7  and the bottom sealing cincture  8 .  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 In an alternate embodiment, the refrigerant section  6 ′ does not have a bottom sealing cincture but is rather configured and sized to releasably engage the lid  1 ″of the container  4 ′″ it is stacked on top of. The refrigerant section  6 ′ has a refrigerant module  11  which is separable from the refrigerant section  6 ′ and which can even be substituted with with ice, liquids or other substances which can have the function of either absorbing heat or releasing heat. An “L” shaped refrigerant section inner cincture  3 ′ is situated around the perimeter of the top of the refrigerant section  6 ′ and is sealably attached to an “L” shaped bottom sealing cincture  9 ′ of a container  4  ″″.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 4 shows the ability of the containers  4  and  4 ′ to stack up by having the refrigerant section  6  sandwiched between the bottom of the container  4  and the lid  1 ′ of the container  4 ′. In this manner, the two containers  4  and  4 ′ are engaged to each other in a way that makes them transportable as one. In the case of the second embodiment described in FIG. 3, although more than one container can be stacked, they are not engaged in a way that makes them one but rather loosely engaged to prevent lateral displacement but not vertical displacement, in other words, they are not as one.  
         [0022]    Both embodiments, however fit inside one another. since they have sides which are shaped in a slightly fluted fashion. It should be understood that the food containers described herein can have a variety of sizes and shapes which can be rectangular, square, round, oval or any such shapes without departing from the scope of the present invention and further, each given shape can fit one inside the other for economy in storage space.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIGS. 5 a b  Shows further variations of the present invention wheras a small container  11  having a partitioning element  12  can fit inside a larger container  13 , thus creating two partitions and with the shape of the large container lid  14 , with its two elevated sections  15 ,(elevated as seen from the outside of the lid) seperated by a depression  16  (depressed as seen from the outside of the lid) so that it insures that the small container  11  will not move laterally inside the larger container  13  when the large container lid  14  is fitted. This configuration can be used for dips where the sauces would be in the small container  11  and the dip food would be in the two partitions created inside the larger container  13 . During transport or storage, a small container lid  17  is put on the small container  11  and the large container lid  14  is put on the large container  13 .