Abstract:
A receptacle for maintaining the temperature of its contents. The body of the receptacle is constructed of a triple-walled, dual chamber enclosure. This dual chamber enclosure is comprised of an inner chamber and an adjacent outer chamber occupied, respectively, by a gel and a gaseous matter. Temperature regulating properties of the gel contained within the inner chamber are insulated by the adjacent outer chamber, permitting the temperature regulating properties of the gel to last for a longer period of time.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to the field of receptacles. More particularly, the present invention relates to a receptacle with an improved capacity to impede any change in the original temperature of solid or liquid matter retained therein.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Prior Art  
         [0004]     Conventional receptacles possessing an ability to maintain the temperature of their contents are typically constructed with a double-walled enclosure. The double-walled enclosure forms a single chamber circumferentially about the body of the receptacle, wherein the single chamber is typically vacuum sealed or filled with a gas. The vacuum or gas sealed chamber serves as a means for insulating the temperature of matter retained within the receptacle by acting as a barrier, temporarily moderating the rate of transfer of heat into and out of the receptacle.  
         [0005]     Receptacles constructed with a double-walled, single chamber enclosure are readily available. Such receptacles, for example, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,706,436 (hereinafter “Bright”), U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,946 (hereinafter “Rowan”) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,499,311 (hereinafter “Mahajan”). The receptacles in Bright, Rowan and Mahajan may be suitable for temporarily regulating the transfer of heat into and out of a receptacle, but the aforementioned prior art references are not as efficient as the present invention in their ability to insulate and maintain the temperature of their contents.  
         [0006]     Accordingly, there exists a need for a receptacle with improved properties that provides insulation from the surrounding ambient temperature, and an efficient means for impeding the change in temperature of matter retained therein.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     It is an object of the present invention to provide a receptacle with an improved means of maintaining the temperature of its contents, while employing a light weight and cost effective design. This and other objects of the present invention are accomplished in accordance with the principles of the present invention. The novelty of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and appended claims.  
         [0008]     The present invention is an improved receptacle having a triple-walled, dual chamber enclosure. The multi-chamber enclosure of the receptacle is comprised of a sealed inner chamber and a sealed outer chamber that are positioned radially adjacent to each other. The multi-chamber enclosure is provided throughout the entire body of the receptacle. The inner chamber may accommodate a gel or oil capable of sustaining a hot or cold temperature. The outer chamber is filled with a gaseous matter (the types of which are identified in the detailed description) to serve as insulation for the thermal properties of the gel or oil housed in the inner chamber. In another embodiment, the inner chamber may also be made suitable to accommodate a gel or a gaseous matter having insulating properties. This novel construction of the receptacle significantly retards the rapid change in temperature that occurs by means of radiation, convection and conduction. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]     The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:  
         [0010]      FIGS. 1A, 1B  and  1 C illustrate, respectively, a side view, an angled top view and a partial cross-sectional view of a bowl-shaped receptacle in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0011]      FIGS. 2A and 2B  illustrate a vertical cross-sectional view of the triple-walled, dual chamber enclosure of a bowl-shaped receptacle in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0012]      FIGS. 3A and 3B  illustrate a horizontal cross-sectional view below a protruding lip portion of the triple-walled, dual chamber enclosure of the bowl-shaped receptacle in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
       [0013]     It is to be understood that the above-identified drawing figures are for purposes of illustrating the concepts of the invention and may not be to scale, and are not intended to be limiting in terms of the range of possible shapes and proportions of the present invention.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0014]     The present invention is directed towards an improved receptacle capable of maintaining the temperature of solid or liquid matter retained therein for a prolonged period of time. For purposes of clarity, and not by way of limitation, illustrative views of the present invention are described with references made to the above-identified figures. Various modifications obvious to one skilled in the art are deemed to be within the spirit and scope of the present invention.  
         [0015]      FIGS. 1A, 1B  and  1 C illustrate various views of a receptacle  10  in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention. Receptacle  10  of  FIG. 1A  resembles an otherwise conventional bowl having a protruding lip portion  12 , a containment portion  14  and a base portion  16 . Receptacle  10  is preferably constructed of a stainless steel material, however, other suitable metallic or non-metallic materials or any combination of a metallic, plastic and polymer material may be used.  
         [0016]     The angled top view of receptacle  10 , illustrated in  FIG. 1B , shows an opening provided at the top of receptacle  10  to permit access to a cavity  18  provided in containment portion  14 . Protruding lip portion  12  of receptacle  10  is defined by an interior perimeter  20  and an exterior perimeter  22 . Interior perimeter  20  or exterior perimeter  22  of protruding lip portion  12  may be adapted to allow for a lid (not shown) to be used in conjunction with receptacle  10 . The lid would preferably be constructed of the same material, as well as the same structure (i.e., the dual chamber enclosure), as that of receptacle  10 . The lid could be used to seal the opening to cavity  18 .  
         [0017]     It should be made clear that this particular design of receptacle  10  is provided solely for the purposes of illustrating the functionality of the present invention and may be designed to include or exclude other suitable bodily features. For example, protruding lip portion  12  is not an essential design feature that is critical to the functionality of the present invention. Protruding lip  12  may be advantageous in that it allows for wall members  24  (described in detail below) to be joined together in their nested formation absent the need of an additional support structure for provide suitable spacing between the members. However, receptacle  10  could easily be designed without protruding lip portion  12 . For example, the nested formation of receptacle  10  could be sustained by spacing structures placed at proper locations between wall members  24 . Thereafter, wall members  24  could be joined together by a horizontal welding member seated against their adjacent rims. This and other various modifications to the multi-chamber structure of the present invention are foreseeable to those skilled in the art.  
         [0018]     A partial cross-sectional view of receptacle  10  is illustrated in  FIG. 1C . Receptacle  10  is essentially comprised of an inner receptacle member  24   a , a middle receptacle member  24   b  and an outer receptacle member  24   c , collectively referred to as wall members  24 . Wall members  24  are nested together with space between the members to form an inner chamber  26  and an outer chamber  28 . Inner chamber  26  is enclosed by inner receptacle member  24   a  and middle receptacle member  24   b . Outer chamber  28  is enclosed by outer receptacle member  24   c  and middle receptacle member  24   b.    
         [0019]     The illustrated bowl-shaped design of wall members  24  is provided merely as an example. Wall members  24  could easily be constructed with different curvatures and angles to provide a receptacle of various shapes and sizes. For example, wall members  24  may be shaped in a manner that provides a receptacle that is circular, elliptical or rectangular in nature so as to construct a receptacle that is useful as a casserole dish, a platter, a pan, a pitcher, a drinking cup, an ice bucket or any other container or vessel. This permits the receptacle to be accommodating for various applications.  
         [0020]     Cross-sectional views of the triple-walled, dual chamber enclosure of receptacle  10  are illustrated in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . Referring to  FIGS. 2A and 3A , a vertical cross-sectional and a horizontal cross-sectional of receptacle  10  are taken, respectively, along a line I and a line II. As can be seen in  FIGS. 2B and 3B , inner chamber  26  and outer chamber  28  may extend throughout the entire body of receptacle  10 , including protruding lip portion  12 , containment portion  14  and base portion  16  ( FIG. 1A ).  
         [0021]     Inner chamber  26  is filled with a gel  36  and outer chamber  28  is filled with a gaseous matter  38 . Outer chamber  28  serves to insulate inner chamber  26  and cavity  18  from the outside ambient temperature of a room and to prevent the outer surface of receptacle  10  from sweating. More specifically, outer chamber  28  helps to retain the temperature of gel  36  occupying inner chamber  26 . By insulating the heating or cooling gel element housed in inner chamber  26 , rather than providing a direct insulation barrier between the retained solid or liquid matter and the ambient air, the solid or liquid matter retained in cavity  18  of receptacle  10  can be exposed to heat or cold for a more constant and prolonged period. This in turn impedes the change in temperature of contents retained in the receptacle due to exposure to ambient conditions.  
         [0022]     Gel  36  may be any gel that demonstrates an ability to retain hot or cold temperatures. Heating and cooling thermal gels are readily available and well known in the medical and food handling arts, typically have a high specific heat, and can be made to have differing viscosities, and different heat absorptive and heat retaining or releasing properties, depending on the application in which they will be used. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,141,801 at columns  10 - 11 , which are hereby incorporated by reference.  
         [0023]     When heating or chilling receptacle  10 , gel  36  retains the desired hot or cold temperature. Gel  36  may then transfer heat to or absorb heat from the contents of receptacle  10 . Gaseous matter  38  may simply be ambient air at or near ambient pressure. Similarly, nitrogen or carbon dioxide gas may be used in outer chamber  28  to provide insulation to inner chamber  26 .  
         [0024]     In another embodiment, inner chamber  26  may also be filled with an oil possessing similar thermal properties of gel  36 . In yet another embodiment, inner chamber  26  may be filled with an insulator itself, impeding any change in temperature of matter retained in receptacle  10 . Thereafter, if a hot or cold substance is placed in cavity  18  of receptacle  10 , the insulator may restrict the movement of heat through inner chamber  26 . Outer chamber  28  could then serve as an additional insulator, contributing to the insulating properties of inner chamber  26 . Any suitable gel or gas possessing similar thermal insulating properties could be used to line the inside of inner chamber  26 .  
         [0025]     Once inner chamber  26  and outer chamber  28  are occupied with gel  36  and gaseous matter  38 , respectively, they are sealed, preferably by welding the outer circumferential edge of protruding lip portion  12  ( FIG. 1A ), wherein inner receptacle member  24   a , middle receptacle member  24   b  and outer receptacle member  24   c  extending into protruding lip portion  12  all have a similar outer diameter  22  ( FIG. 1B ). A weld seam is indicated by arrow  30  depicted in  FIG. 2B . Alternatively, inner and outer chambers  26  and  28  may be sealed by gluing or by utilizing any other suitable sealing method known in the art. If receptacle  10  is constructed without protruding lip portion  12  (as previously described), the rims of inner receptacle member  24   a , middle receptacle member  24   b  and outer receptacle member  24   c  may be joined together, using any of the aforementioned sealing methods, to seal inner chambers  26  and  28  of receptacle  10 .  
         [0026]     One skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be practiced by other than the described embodiments, which are presented for purposes of illustration and not by way of limitation, and the present invention is limited only by the claims that follow.