Patent ID: 6870137

Claim:
A warming apparatus for receiving and heating a product container, comprising: a heating chamber having a chamber side wall and a chamber bottom wall defining a chamber having a chamber interior surface and a chamber port through which a product container is inserted into and removed from said chamber; a heating element adjacent to one of said chamber side wall and said chamber bottom wall, for heating a product container within said chamber; an apparatus circuit electrically connected to said heating element for supplying electric power to said heating element; a flexible chamber liner within said chamber for receiving a product container and deforming to the shape and size of the product container, said liner defining a self-contained heat transfer substance retaining structure in the form of a toroid; and a flowable heat transfer substance retained by said chamber liner adjacent to said chamber interior surface for flowing as said chamber liner deforms to the shape and size of a product container; such that the configuration of said liner deforms upon insertion of a product container and snugly hugs the product container to eliminate insulating air spaces around the exterior of a product container within said chamber and thus maximizes the efficiency of heat transfer from said heating element into the container.