Patent ID: 7677165

Claim:
A food storage device, comprising: a housing defining an interior area and an access opening; a door coupled to said housing for selectively covering said access opening and enclosing said interior area; wherein: said door is movable between a closed configuration enclosing said interior area and an open configuration allowing access to said interior area; said housing includes a plurality of ribs sandwiched between an interior wall and an exterior wall, said interior wall defining said interior area; a vacuum pump in communication with said interior area for selectively removing air from said interior area; a pressure activated switch in communication with said interior area and said vacuum pump for selectively actuating said vacuum pump to maintain said interior area at a given pressure; a humidifier in communication with said interior area for selectively maintaining said interior area at a given humidity level; a humidity sensor in communication with said interior area and said humidifier for selectively actuating said humidifier to maintain said interior area at said given humidity level; a pressure equalizing valve in communication with said interior area and an area external to said housing for selectively equalizing a pressure inside said interior area with a pressure outside said interior area, said pressure equalizing valve being operatively accessible to a user when said door encloses said interior area; a first circuit-breaking switch in communication with said vacuum pump and said pressure equalizing valve for rendering said vacuum pump inoperable while said pressure equalizing valve is actuated; a second circuit-breaking switch in communication with said vacuum pump and said door to render said vacuum pump inoperable while said door is at said open configuration; and an ultraviolet light inside said housing for killing germs inside said housing.