Patent Publication Number: US-11040820-B2

Title: Thermal bag

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a thermal bag, and more particularly to a thermal bag that is opened/closed conveniently. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     A thermal bag is widely used in our daily life, especially in the field of takeout and medicine. Compared with a common bag, the inner layer of the thermal bag is made of aluminum foil. Through PE cotton having thermal insulation function, the bag has a short-term thermal insulation effect to store various foods and maintain the temperature and freshness of the foods. The medical personnel may use the thermal bag for carrying some medicines that need to be kept in a constant temperature environment when going out. 
     In general, the thermal bag is made of Oxford fabric or nylon fabric, and the opening portion of the thermal bag is soft. As a result, the shape of the opening is irregular after the opening is opened. It is inconvenient to take and place articles. The joint between the upper cover portion and the main body portion of the thermal bag has no stable structure, so it is also soft, resulting in an unstable shape of the upper cover. 
     Accordingly, the inventor of the present invention has devoted himself based on his many years of practical experiences to solve these problems. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The primary object of the present invention is to provide a thermal bag which has the characteristics of convenient opening and closing. An upper cover of the thermal bag has a stable shape to facilitate the placement of articles. 
     In order to achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions. 
     A thermal bag comprises a thermal bag main body, an upper cover, and an opening assembly. The upper cover is connected to an opening of the thermal bag main body. A side shaping board is interlaid between an outer layer fabric and an inner layer fabric around the thermal bag main body. The upper cover includes a pair of half covers that are disposed symmetrically. The opening assembly is connected between the two half covers for opening or closing the opening between the two half covers. Atop shaping board is interlaid between an outer layer fabric and an inner layer fabric of each of the half covers for supporting the fabrics of the half covers. A hinge assembly is connected between the side shaping board and the top shaping board located at the same side of the opening assembly. The hinge assembly includes a limiting member and two opening-closing plates connected to the top shaping bard and the side shaping board, respectively. The two opening-closing plates are hinged to a rotating shaft and disposed symmetrically with the rotating shaft as a center line. The limiting member includes a curved portion and two hooks at two ends of the curved portion. A front of each of the opening-closing plates has at least one groove for engagement of a corresponding one of the hooks. A distance between the two hooks is less than twice a distance between the groove and the rotating shaft. The limiting member is located at backs of the two opening-closing plates. The hooks extend over sides of the opening-closing plates and are engaged in the grooves of the opening-closing plates. The rotating shaft leans against the curved portion. 
     Preferably, a support bar is interlaid between the outer layer fabric and the inner layer fabric of each of the half covers. The support bar is located between the top shaping board and the opening assembly. The support bar extends in the direction of the opening assembly. 
     Preferably, the two support bars of the two half covers extend to a position beyond a side wall of the thermal bag main body. Ends of the two support bars are bent toward each other, directed to ends of the opening assembly. 
     Preferably, the side shaping board and the top shaping board are foam boards. 
     Preferably, the opening assembly is a zipper. 
     With the above structure, after opening/closing the opening assembly of the present invention, the half covers are opened/closed manually, so that the hinge assembly is in an intermediate state. The hinge assembly drives the half covers to be opened/closed in the maximum opening/closing state, so as to facilitate quick opening and closing of the thermal bag. 
     In addition, the support bars are configured to brace the fabrics on both sides of the opening assembly for articles to be placed into or taken out from the thermal bag conveniently. The top shaping boards increase the ability of the fabrics of the upper over to be shaped while increasing the thermal insulation function. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention in a closed state; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the hinge assembly of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded view of the hinge assembly of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic view of the hinge assembly of the present invention in an open state; 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic view showing that the hinge assembly changes from a closed state to an open state; 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic view showing that the hinge assembly changes from an open state to a closed state; and 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention in an open state. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , a thermal bag comprises a thermal bag main body  1 , an upper cover  2 , and an opening assembly  3 . The thermal bag main body  1  is in the shape of a bag which is common in our daily life, and has a cavity therein for storing articles. The upper cover  2  is connected to the opening of the thermal bag main body  1  so that the cavity between the two becomes a storage space that can be opened and closed. 
     A side shaping board  11  is interlaid between an outer layer fabric and an inner layer fabric around the thermal bag main body  1  for the thermal bag main body  1  to have a regular cylindrical shape, so that it is more convenient for the internal cavity to store articles, not in a state of chaos. A pair of handles  12  is mounted on two opposite sides of the outer wall of the thermal bag main body  1  for moving and carrying the thermal bag. 
     The upper cover  2  includes a pair of half covers  21  that are disposed symmetrically. The opening assembly  3  is connected between the two half covers  21  for opening or closing the opening between the two half covers  21 , that is, for opening or closing the cavity. The opening assembly  3  of the present invention is a zipper. The opening assembly  3  may be magnetic strips that are able to attract each other and are disposed on the corresponding sides of the two half covers  21 , so as to open or close the opening of the thermal bag. A top shaping board  22  is interlaid between an outer layer fabric and an inner layer fabric of each of the half covers  2  for supporting the fabrics of the half covers  21 . The top shaping board  22  can support most of the fabrics of the half covers  21  to be in a regular shape. 
     A hinge assembly  4  is connected between the side shaping board  11  and the top shaping board  22  located at the same side of the opening assembly  3 , as shown in  FIG. 3  to  FIG. 5 . The hinge assembly  4  includes a limiting member  41  and two opening-closing plates  42  connected to the top shaping bard  22  and the side shaping board  11 , respectively. The two opening-closing plates  42  are hinged to a rotating shaft  43  and disposed symmetrically with the rotating shaft  43  as a center line, so that one of the opening-closing plates  42  can rotate at any angle relative to the other opening-closing plates  42 ′ with the rotating shaft  43  as an axis. The limiting member  41  includes a curved portion  411  and two hooks  412  at two ends of the curved portion  411 . The front of each opening-closing plate  42  has at least one groove  421  for engagement of a corresponding one of the hooks  412 . The distance between the two hooks  412  is less than twice the distance between the groove  421  and the rotating shaft  43 . When the two hooks  412  are fitted in the grooves  421  of the two opening-closing plates  42  respectively, the angle between the two opening-closing plates  42  is less than 180°. The limiting member  41  is located at the backs of the two opening-closing plates  42 . The hooks  412  extend over the sides of the opening-closing plates  42  and are engaged in the grooves  421  of the opening-closing plates  42 . The rotating shaft  43  leans against the curved portion  411 . Each opening-closing plate  42  has at least one mounting hole  422 . The opening-closing plate  42  is connected to the side shaping board  11  or the top shaping board  22  through the mounting hole  422 . 
     In this embodiment, the hinge assembly  4  includes two limiting members  41 , and each of the opening-closing plates  42  has two grooves  421  for the structure to be more stable. 
       FIG. 6  and  FIG. 7  illustrate the change of the hinge assembly  4  during operation. When the hinge assembly  4  is in a closed state, a force is applied to the backs of the opening-closing plates  42  until the two opening-closing plates  42  are pushed to be in an intermediate state in the same plane, and the limiting member  41  is stretched. At this time, the two opening-closing plates  42  are slightly applied with a force until an obtuse angle is formed between the two opening-closing plates  42 . The elastic force of the limiting member  41  enables the two opening-closing plates  42  to continue to turn with the rotating shaft  43  as an axis until the two opening-closing plates  42  are in an open state, and the limiting member  41  returns to the original shape. When the hinge assembly  4  is in an open state, a force is applied to the fronts of the opening-closing plates  42  until the two opening-closing plates  42  are pushed to be in an intermediate state in the same plane, and the limiting member  41  is stretched. At this time, the two opening-closing plates  42  are slightly applied with a force until an obtuse angle is formed between the two opening-closing plates  42 . The elastic force of the limiting member  41  enables the two opening-closing plates  42  to continue to turn with the rotating shaft  43  as an axis until the rotating shaft  43  leans against the curved portion  411 , and the limiting member  41  returns to the original shape. 
     A support bar  23  is interlaid between the outer layer fabric and the inner layer fabric of each of the half covers  2 . The support bar  23  is located between the top shaping board  22  and the opening assembly  3 . The support bar  23  extends in the direction of the opening assembly  3 . The two support bars  23  of the two half covers  21  extend to a position beyond the side wall of the thermal bag main body  1 , the ends of the two support bars  23  are bent toward each other, directed to the ends of the opening assembly  3 . As shown in  FIG. 8 , the support bars  23  are configured to support the fabrics at both sides of the opening assembly  3 , so that the opening of the opening assembly  3  after opened has a stable shape for the articles to be placed into or taken out from the thermal bag conveniently. 
     The side shaping board  11  and the top shaping board  22  may be a foam board which is common in our daily life, and they are light and practical. 
     When the opening of the opening assembly  3  is closed, the two support bars  23  and the top shaping bards  22  jointly support the fabrics of the upper cover  2 , and the hinge assembly  4  is in a closed state, so that the bag has a flat top surface. When the opening of the opening assembly  3  is opened, the two support bars  23  cooperate with each other to brace the fabrics at the opening. The top shaping boards  22  are forced to move toward both sides of the thermal bag main body  1 , that is, the backs of the opening-closing plates  42  are applied with a force. The hinge assembly  4  is changed to be in an open state, and the opening is opened quickly to be in an open state. The current shape is kept stable, without collapsing, which is more convenient for taking and placing articles. When the upper cover  2  needs to be closed, the top shaping boards  22  are forced to move toward each other, that is, the fronts of the opening-closing plates  42  are applied with a force. The hinge assembly  4  is changed to be in a closed state, and the opening is closed quickly. 
     With the above structure, after opening/closing the opening assembly  3  of the present invention, the half covers  21  are opened/closed manually, so that the hinge assembly  4  is in an intermediate state. The hinge assembly  4  drives the half covers  21  to be opened/closed in the maximum opening/closing state, facilitating quick opening and closing of the opening assembly  3 . 
     In addition, the support bars  23  are configured to brace the fabrics at both sides of the opening assembly  3  for the articles to be placed into or taken out from the thermal bag conveniently. The top shaping boards  22  increase the ability of the fabrics of the upper over 2 to be shaped while increasing the thermal insulation function. 
     Although particular embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the present invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.