Abstract:
A cooling inserted into a regular cooling chest as a unit. The cooling insert consists of a multiple of hollow panels that are hinged together at their edges by adhesive tapes or extruded layers on panels that are continued between adjacent panels. The hollow panels are constructed of thin walled plastic materials. A freezable substance is inserted into the hollow panels constituting a cooling medium that will permeate through the thin walls of the hollow panels to keep food and/or drinks in a cooled state.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The invention relates to a container assembly, and more particularly to an insert to be inserted into an insulated container. An item which is included in virtually all outdoor activities, whether it be boating, camping, fishing, spending a day on the beach, or going on a picnic, or construction sites, is a cooler to keeps drinks and perishable foods cold and safe to eat. Although a few types of coolers are available which use electricity to provide chilling air, the vast majority rely on supplies of ice or reusable gel packs placed within the cooler to keep the interior cold. Drawbacks encountered when ice is used is that the ice occupies a lot of space in the cooler when it if frozen and when it melts the food placed into the container can become soggy. Another drawback is, when placing cold gel packs into the container, is the gel packs also take up a certain amount of space. There are known cooling containers or chests that have hollow side walls that are being filled with a cooling gel to keep the food and/or drinks in a cooled state. However, in such containers the cooling medium stays remote from the items to be cooled in the container. 
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The inventive concept eliminates the above drawbacks by placing another substitute container made up of hollow side walls which are filled with a cooling gel or dry ice. The inserted container complements the shape of the cooler. The various panels that make up the container consists of hollow and foldable panels that can be collapsed into a compact package when the not in use. The hollow panels can be made of thin plastic walls that allow the cooling medium to easily permeate through the thin walls into the interior of the cooler. The various panels are hinged together to allow an easy deployment when needed or desired. The hollow panels are useful for inserting a plurality of slim gel packs therein or for injecting dry ice into the same. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0003]      FIG. 1  illustrates a multiple of hollow panels in a collapsed state; 
           [0004]      FIG. 2  shows the collapsed state of  FIG. 1  in a partially opened state; 
           [0005]      FIG. 3  shows the collapsed state of  FIG. 1  in an almost open state; 
           [0006]      FIG. 4  shows the panels in their construction; 
           [0007]      FIG. 5  Shows the hollow panel of  FIG. 4  with in additional insulating layer on its exterior; 
           [0008]      FIG. 6  shows a foldable lid being placed over a collapsed insert; 
           [0009]      FIG. 7  shows a collapsed insert being double folded in a collapsed state; 
           [0010]      FIG. 8  shows the insert of  FIG. 7  in a compact and totally collapsed And compact state; 
           [0011]      FIG. 9  illustrates the steps of opening and erecting the collapsed state Of  FIGS. 7 and 8 ; 
           [0012]      FIG. 10  shows the insert in a fully erected state; 
           [0013]      FIGS. 11 ,  12  and  14  show how magnets are applied as an aid to keep The erected panels in their proper position; 
           [0014]      FIG. 13  shows a fully assembled insert with a lid thereon; 
           [0015]      FIG. 15  is a perspective view made up of a small single panel insert; 
           [0016]      FIG. 16  is a perspective view of  FIG. 15  in a fully assembled state; 
           [0017]      FIG. 17  is a side view of an assembled insert; 
           [0018]      FIGS. 18 and 19  show the use of magnets as an aid to keep the panels In their proper position. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]      FIG. 1  shows the cooling insert in a collapsed state or condition. The cooling insert, once assembled, will fit snugly within a regular cooling box or chest. The various panels, from which the insert is made up, are hollow, as will be explained below, so that a cooling medium may be inserted or injected therein. This will be further explained below. In  FIG. 1  there is a bottom panel  1  which is hollow, of course, but somewhat thicker than the rest of the panels. The bottom panel  1  on each side has an upstanding ledge  2  having a height of two individual panel so that when the front panel  7  including the cover panel  7   a  which is hinged thereto are folded down and the two panels  7  and  7   a  will be assimilated or fitted within the upstanding ledges  2  and be hidden therein. The side panels  5  and  6  are hinged to the upstanding ledges  2  and can be collapsed onto the hidden panel and will be flush thereon. Finally, there is a rear panel  4  which is hinged to yet another upstanding ledge  3  which has a height of the collapsed panels  5  and  6  and the panel  4  is hinged to the upstanding ledge  3  and when the panel  4  is folded down or collapsed onto the panels  5  and  6 , the whole structure takes on a compact package which can stored until further use is desired. The compact structure, in its collapsed state is shown in  FIG. 1A . 
         [0020]    In  FIG. 2 , the rear panel  4  is first raised to a vertical position. Thereafter, both side panels  5  and  6  are raised and then the front panel  7  including the cover panel  7  are raised to complete the cooling insert which can now be inserted in a cooling chest. It is preferred that the cover panel  7  is made in at least twice the thickness of the other upstanding panels. This enhances the insulating quality of the cover layer  7  against a frequent opening of the container cover or lid. 
         [0021]      FIGS. 4 and 5  illustrate the structure of the hollow panels. The hollow interior is shown at  9 . The panels should be made of thin walls to be able to transmit the cooling medium into the interior of the cooling chest. The material used could be selected from various substances such as polyethylene, PVC, Acrylic substances and many others. The hollow panels could be extruded or assembled from thin walls with a spacer there between. It also contemplated to add an extra insulating layer  9  to the hollow panel. The insulating layer  9  should be applied to an outer surface of the panel that would face the interior walls of the cooling chest. This extra layer would prolong the life of the cooling medium in the hollow panels. Another layer is shown at  10  in  FIG. 5 . This layer could consist of a hollow layer  10  that could be injected with a cooling medium. 
         [0000]    The various panels could be hinged together by using adhesive tapes like packing tapes having fiber reinforcements therein or tapes known as duct tapes. In either application, the adhesive should be strong enough so that they cannot become unglued when being handled numerous times. A preferred way of making the hinges at the edges of the panels is to form the hinges during an extrusion of the panels, whereby an outer layer of the panels is extended onto an adjacent panel which forms a layer thereon. Thereby, a layer between the panels forms a reliable hinge. 
         [0022]      FIG. 6  shows a lid that could be folded or collapsed onto itself by two panels  17  and  17   a  that are hinged together. 
         [0023]    In  FIG. 7 , in this embodiment, the individual panels are subdivided one more time. Thus, the bottom panel is subdivided into two panels  12  and  12   a  and they are hinged together so that they can be folded upon themselves. The two side panels are  14  and  14   a  are hinged to the upstanding ledges  13  and  13   a  which can folded into the two bottom panels  12  and  12   a . Then there are two rear panels  15  and  15   a  which can also be folded into bottom panels  12  and  12   a . There is a cover lid which also consists of two hinged panels  17  and  17   a  which is stored separately from the main structure. Once all the hinged panels are collapsed into each other, they form a compact structure, shown in  FIG. 8 , which can easily be stored or could be placed into a freezer compartment or a freezer chest to freeze the medium in the hollow panels before being placed into the cooler chest for its intended purpose. 
         [0024]      FIG. 9  illustrates the structure of  FIG. 7  including the steps of unfolding the various panels. 
         [0025]      FIG. 10  shows the unit of  FIG. 7  in its fully assembled state. It is advantageous to give the assembled structure some stability. 
         [0026]      FIG. 11  shows the use of magnets to give the assembled structure some stability. As an example, a magnet  22  has been attached to panel  16   a  and a magnet  23  has been attached to panel  14   a . The particular location of the magnets is immaterial as long as they are placed in strategic locations to aid in holding the panels together. 
         [0027]      FIG. 13  shows a fully assembled panel structure with a hinged cover consisting of two panels  17  and  17   a.    
         [0028]      FIG. 14  again shows the location of magnets placed, for example, one magnet  21  placed on the upstanding panel  16   a  and another magnet  20  placed on the other upstanding panel  16 . This will hold the two panels in a stable state. 
         [0029]      FIG. 12  shows the placement of magnets between the cover  17  and the upstanding panel  14 . Thus, there is a magnet  18  on the upstanding side panel  14  and a magnet  19  on the cover panel  17 . The use of magnet greatly enhances the handling of an assembled structure while placing the same into a cooler chest or even after the assembled structure has been placed into the cooler chest because it will prevent the various panels from collapsing upon themselves while drinks or foods are placed into the chest. 
         [0030]      FIG. 15  shows an embodiment that is simpler in its construction and is smaller than the previous illustrated embodiments. The smaller version is useful when carrying a twelve pack of drinks in a specially designed canvas bag for that purpose. The structure is made up of a bottom panel  30  which again has upstanding ledges  31  on either side to accommodate the front panel  36  with its top cover  37  when folded down. There are two side panels  33  and  34 , and a rear panel  35  which is connected to another upstanding ledge  32  by way of a hinge. 
         [0031]      FIG. 16  shows the structure of  FIG. 15  in a fully assembled state. 
         [0032]      FIG. 17  shows the assembled state of  FIG. 16  in a side view. At  40  are indicated hinges that consist of adhesive tapes as was explained above. 
         [0033]      FIG. 18  again shows magnets to stabilize the various panels. Thus, there is a magnet  41  on the upstanding side panel  33  and there is a magnet  42  on the cover panel  37 . 
         [0034]      FIG. 19  shows further two magnets  43  and  44  that can be placed anywhere on the foldable structure where stability is desired. 
         [0035]    At this point it is reiterated again that all panels described in the above described specification are hollow to receive a re-freezable material therein. The medium can be the well known gel packs. Suitable cold thermal media can include a high molecular weight silicone and water mixture, for example. In some embodiments, the thermal media can be a “unigel” comprising a mixture of about 98.2% water and 1.8-2.1% solids, wherein the solids can comprise 80-85% sodiumcarboxymethylcellulose, 10-16% sodium benzoate, and 4.6% cross-linkers. In other embodiments, the thermal generator can comprise two or more chemicals which when mixed together create an endothermic reaction. The chemicals can be kept segregated by a known encapsulating technique until it is desired to generate cold thermal energy. This would bc the case when a cooling chest is to be filled with food items or drinks. The assembled cooling insert would be inserted into the cooling chest first and then the encapsulated chemicals would be released whereby the cold medium could permeate through the thin wall of the hollow panels to the interior of the cooling chest. The hollow panels could also be pre-filled with a freezable gel that remains cold for several hours.