Patent Publication Number: US-2021169681-A1

Title: Controlled temperature water bottle

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to apparatus for holding liquid. More particularly, it relates to apparatus to control the temperature of the liquid being held. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Devices for applying heat or cold, such as a heat pack or cold pack, to areas of the human body are well known. Known ice packs, for example, may comprise sealed enclosures which contain particulate matter, water, glycol, a mixture thereof or other fluid medium which are pre-chilled in a refrigerating device and the chilled or, in some cases, frozen pack then applied to an area of the skin of a human or other mammalian body to treat and/or control inflammation, bruising and/or infection and to promote healing and/or to relieve pain. 
     However, such cold pack devices have disadvantageous aspects and are of limited use since they tend to be too intense in their cooling effect when first applied and have been found to induce frostbite. Moreover, the ice packs lose much of their effectiveness because they warm up rather quickly through heat exchange with the body, thereby providing a constantly changing temperature at the areas of contact. 
     Other devices in which the heat exchange with the body, and hence the therapeutic treatment, is prolonged are known. These other known devices with prolonged effectiveness include flexible sealed enclosures through which a chilled or heated fluid medium is caused to flow by pumping the fluid medium through the device. Such devices are known in the art by various descriptions such as garments, pipings, bandages, pads, wraps, cuffs and the like, but in each case the device generally comprises a flexible sealed enclosure (hereinafter a ‘thermal pack’) which can be applied and secured to an area of the body to be treated. A chilled or heated fluid medium can be caused to flow through the enclosure to provide a cooling or heated therapeutic treatment. 
     In relation specifically to cold therapy treatment, or cryotherapy as it is known, equipment to circulate fluid through a thermal pack generally comprises a chiller unit supplying cold fluid to a thermal pack by way of circulation through insulated hoses. More simplistic (and cheaper) systems operate by raising and lowering a water-ice tank to fill and then empty a thermal pack via a single hose. 
     These systems should not be confused with the cold packs referred to above such as gel filled flexible enclosures which are placed in a freezer and then applied to the treatment area of the body without any circulation or ingress or egress of fluid relative to the pack. 
     An effective therapy requires the maintenance of a constant even temperature at a desirable level over the treatment area. The various cooling techniques presently in use fail satisfactorily to maintain a constant temperature on the desired body areas or do so only with the use of expensive and unnecessarily complex equipment. 
     In addition to the requirement of maintaining a constant temperature on the selected areas, there is also a need for a thermal pack that will comfortably and securely fit the contours of the area being treated as well as a need for providing portability of the cooling (or heating) unit. 
     Application of the thermal pack to an area of the body, e.g. the knee, causes it to fold and crease creating restrictions which reduce or cut off the flow of fluid and causes “dead areas” with little or no fluid movement which results in loss of temperature control at that point. Accordingly, there is a need for ensuring uninterrupted flow and dispersion of fluid over the complete surface of the thermal pack. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1A  is an illustrated view of an exemplary hot water bottle. 
         FIG. 1B  is an illustrated view of a control panel of the exemplary hot water bottle shown in  FIG. 1A . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. All terms in the plural shall also be taken as singular and vice-versa. Further, any reference to he shall also be applicable to she and vice-versa. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 1B , an illustrated view of a water bottle  100  for providing therapy to a patient is presented. The water bottle is made of rubber, though the hot water bottle may be of other suitable material to hold water without leaking and to allow the temperature of the water held internally to be felt externally. The hot water bottle is described as holding and heating hot water, but one could also utilize the device and the contemplations of the device to use cool water and chilling the water, adding tepid water and keeping the water at an in between temperature, etc. 
     The hot water bottle  100  has an outside  200 , interior  300  and an energy source  600 . The outside  200  has a front  201 , a back  202 , a first side  203 , a second side  204 , a bottom  205  and a top  206 . 
     The interior  300  has a bottom  301 . A heat strip  400  is securely coupled to the bottom  301  of the interior  300 . The heat strip  400  is preferably a single strip that winds through the interior  301  of the interior  300 . The bottom  301  of the interior  300  is preferably made of an insulating material. 
     The interior  300  further has a plurality of pad spacers  302  securely coupled to the bottom  301  of the interior  300 . The pad spacers  302  are configured to be equally spaced to further secure the heating strip  400  in a desired location on the bottom  301  of the interior  300  of the hot water bottle  100 . The pad spacers  302  are preferably made of a rubber material. 
     The pad spacers  302  spaced apart approximately two inches apart to help the heat strip  400  to stay in a desired position. The heat strip  400  are glued to the bottom to fix the location of the heat strip  400 . The rubber in the pad spacers  302  is used to help prevent the heat strip  400  inside from touching the top  205 . 
     The preferred embodiment of the exemplary hot water bottle  100  has sixteen (16) rubber pad spacers  302  on the interior  300  of the hot water bottle  100 . Preferably the rubber pad spacers  302  are spaced two inches apart. The number and spacing of the rubber pad spacers may be any number and spaced any distance. 
     The bottom  301  of the interior  300  of the hot water bottle  100  further has a felt material for protecting of bottom  301  from contacting the heat strip  400 . This helps keep the temperature at a predetermined temperature by helping reduce heat loss. The rubber pad spacers  302  further helps to assure heated water is being circulated. 
     The front  201  of the outside  200  of the hot water bottle  100  has a water intake port  207 , an electric cord port  208  and a control panel  110 . The water intake port  207  is configured to be coupled to a water source, such as a hose, allowing water to be entered into the interior  300  of the hot water bottle  100 . 
     The control panel  110  has a temperature control  111 , a temp display  112 , a computing device  113  and a wireless transceiver  114 . The computing device  113  and wireless transceiver  114  are coupled to an inside  116  of the control panel  110 . The computing device  113  further has a memory unit  115 . 
     The control panel  110  is configured to adjust and set a desired temperature of the water stored in the interior  300  of the hot water bottle  100  as well as display a current temperature of the water stored in the interior  300  and a set temperature determined at the temperature control  111 . The control panel  110  is preferably a touchscreen. 
     Optionally and/or additionally, when the computing device  113  of the control panel  110  determines a temperature of the water has exceeded a predetermined temperature, the computing device  113  determines an alarm sound stored in the memory unit  114  of the computing device  113  and sends the alarm sound to play to a speaker  120  when an abnormal condition arises. The abnormal condition is preferably a power failure but may be any other determined conditions such as the temperature being below a second threshold. 
     When the temperature is determined to be greater than the desired temperature, the computing device  113  sends a signal is to reduce the heat being produced by the heat strip  400 . When the temperature of the water contained in the hot water bottle  100  is determined by the computing device  113  to be less than the desired temperature set at the temperature control  111 , then the computing device  113  sends a signal to increase the temperature of the heat strip  400  thus increasing the temperature of the water contained in the hot water bottle  100 . 
     The thermostat control  111  is preferably a manual thermostat coupled to the control panel  110  but may be wirelessly connected through the wireless transceiver  114  via a wireless signaling protocol  118  to a wireless computing device  118 , such as a smart phone, a computer, etc. The wireless signaling protocol may be consistent with any wireless technology, including, but not limited to, Bluetooth (IEEE 802.15), WiFi (IEEE 802.11), etc. 
     The electric cord port  208  of the front  201  of the outside  200  is configured to receive a power cord  500 . 
     The power cord  500  has a first end  501  and a second end  502 . The first end  501  of the power cord  500  is removably coupled to a energy source  600 . The energy source  600  is preferably an AC/DC source. The second end  502  of the power cord  500  is threaded through the electric cord port  208  and is coupled to a thermostat  210 . The thermostat  210  is configured to be coupled to the heat strip  400  configured on the interior  300  of the hot water bottle  100 . The thermostat  210  is further coupled to the computing device  113  of the control panel  110  to regulate the temperature of the heat strip  400  and thus the water contained on the interior  300  will have a temperature determined by the setting of the temperature control  111 . 
     The power cord  500  electrically couples the hot water bottle  100  to the energy source  600 . The energy source  600  and control panel  110  are for coupling an instrument to provide power and to control the temperature of the water contained in the interior  300  of the hot water bottle  100 . 
     The top  206  of the hot water bottle  100  has an interior side  211  and an exterior side  212 . The interior side  211  has an edge  213  where the edge  213  has a coupling device  214 , such as Velcro®, adhering compound, etc., that provides a water proof seal when the top  206  is in a closed position, thus preventing water contained in the interior  300  of the hot water bottle  100  from exiting the interior  300  of the hot water bottle  100 . 
     The outside  200  has an edge  219  where the edge  219  is the parameter of the interior  300  of the hot water bottle  100 . A first end  215  of the top  206  is hingedly coupled to the edge  219  substantially near the back  202  of the outside  200  of the hot water bottle. When the top  206  is position in a closed condition the edge  213  of the interior side  211  of the top  206  is removably and sealingly coupled to the edge  219  of the outside  200  of the hot water bottle  100  by the coupling device  214 . 
     The interior side  211  of the top  206  further has a temperature indicator  216 . The temperature indicator  216  has a plurality of heat sensors  218 . The heat sensors  218  are preferably three (3) in number equally spaced along the temperature indicator  216 . 
     Each of a plurality of wires  217  are coupled to each of the plurality of heat sensors  218 , such that each of the heat sensors  218  are individually coupled to transmit information to the computing device  113 . A second end of the plurality of wires  217 ′ are coupled to the computing device  113  of the control panel  110  where the computing device  113  determines the temperature of the water contained in the interior  300  of the hot water bottle  100 . The computing device  113  further determines whether to change the temperature of the heat strip  400  based on the determined temperature of the water contained on the interior  300  of the hot water bottle  100 . 
     The exterior side  212 , when the top  206  is in a closed condition, is removably coupled to a patient. 
     The features described with respect to one embodiment may be applied to other embodiments or combined with or interchanged with the features of other embodiments, as appropriate, without departing from the scope of the present invention. 
     Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.