Patent Application
20250145361
The present application claims priority to GB request number GB2216497.4, filed on Nov. 4, 2022, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated in its entirety at least by reference.
The present invention relates generally to insulated containers but more particularly to an insulated container for keeping lunch food.
The making of lunches for the whole family can be a tedious task. Most of the time is wasted taking leftovers from a casserole, pot or pan and putting it in a temporary container in the refrigerator. Then, the next day, splitting that leftover into different containers. Sometimes that container is not well suited for a microwave, so the meal has to be put in yet another container. This leads to a lot of unnecessary dirty dishes, energy wasting dishwasher use, and food handling.
The following presents a simplified summary of some embodiments of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is not intended to identify key/critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some embodiments of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
It is a main object of the present disclosure to provide for an insulated container for keeping lunch food that can go from the refrigerator, to the microwave, to the dishwasher. Eliminating unnecessary dirty dishes and saving time in the process.
In order to do so, the present invention provides for a food container that achieves outstanding thermal insulation by a novel combination of nested shells, perimeter air gaps, and temperature-resistant silicone layers. Hot foods stay above 140° F. for over 3 hours, and cold foods below 40° F. for over 5 hours.
The container has inner and outer shells separated by a vacuum gap, providing insulation. The exterior of the inner shell is aircoated with a silicone layer, separated by a small air gap. The silicone withstands hot and cold temperatures without damage.
The inventive composite construction traps air exceptionally well, while utilizing temperature resistant modern materials not previously combined in containers. The result is an insulated food container far surpassing performance of conventional options.
While insulated food containers exist in the prior art, and materials suitably resistant to hot/cold are available, the novel combination and arrangement of elements provides superior insulation unachieved previously. The marriage of nested thermally-resistant shells, perimeter gaps, and durable hot/cold-resistant silicone represents an inventive, non-obvious improvement over conventional containers.
The insulated food container has a container part and a detachable cover part having a handle. The cover part connectable to the container part by at least one clip on each of four sides of the container. The container part and cover part each comprising an outer shell of non-heat conducting material and an inner shell of food-grade non-heat conducting material.
A vacuum gap between the outer shell and inner shell providing insulation. A silicone coating applied to an exterior face of the inner shell, the silicone coating separated from the inner shell by a perimeter hem creating a small gap between the silicone coating and inner shell.
The silicone can withstands hot or cold temperatures without damage, providing exceptional thermal insulation over extended time periods.
The insulated food container further comprises a grid pattern of ribs providing structural integrity to the outer shells of the container part and cover part.
The gap is a vacuumed space between the outer shell and inner shell.
The outer shells are made of polypropylene.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the more pertinent and important features of the present disclosure so that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood and so that the present contribution to the art can be more fully appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and the disclosed specific methods and structures may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. It should be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent structures do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent when the following detailed description is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
1 Isometric view of two sizes of the invention.
The following description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention and sets forth the best modes contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention. Various modifications, however, will remain readily apparent to those skilled in the art, since the general principles of the present invention have been defined herein.
It is to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. The terms “a” or “an,” as used herein, are defined as to mean “at least one”. The term “plurality,” as used herein, is defined as two or more. The term “another,” as used herein, is defined as at least a second or more. The terms “including” and/or “having,” as used herein, are defined as comprising (i.e., open language). The term “coupled,” as used herein, is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly, not necessarily mechanically, and not permanent. The term “providing” is defined herein in its broadest sense, e.g., bringing/coming into physical existence, making available, and/or supplying to someone or something, in whole or in multiple parts at once or over a period of time. As used herein, the terms “about”, “generally”, or “approximately” apply to all numeric values, whether or not explicitly indicated. These terms generally refer to a range of numbers that one of skill in the art would consider near the stated amount by about 0%, 5%, or 10%, including increments therein. In many instances these terms may include numbers that are rounded to the nearest significant figure.
Referring now to any of the accompanying FIGURES, there is provided an insulated container 10 for keeping lunch food which is comprised of a container part 12, and detachable cover part 14 having a handle 16. The cover part 14 connects to the container part 12 by way of at least one clip 18 on each of the container's 10 four sides.
Both parts 12, 14 have an outer shell 20 made of non-heat conducting material like polypropylene, and an inner food-grade non-conducting shell 22. The outer shells 20 define inner air vacuumed spaces 24 so as to provide insulation. To prevent deformation, a grid pattern of ribs 32 provides structural integrity for both the cover part 14 and the container part 12.
Critically, the exterior face of the inner shell 22 has a silicone coating 26, separated from the inner shell which is itself separated by a small gap 28 from the interior shell 22 by way of a perimeter hem 30. The cover part 14 is made of the same construction e.g. exterior and interior shells 20, 22, with a silicone layer 26.
The silicone withstands hot or cold temperatures without damage. The composite construction provides exceptional thermal insulation over extended periods.
Although the invention has been described in considerable detail in language specific to structural features, it is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features described. Rather, the specific features are disclosed as exemplary preferred forms of implementing the claimed invention. Stated otherwise, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein, as well as the abstract, are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. Therefore, while exemplary illustrative embodiments of the invention have been described, numerous variations and alternative embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art. Such variations and alternate embodiments are contemplated, and can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
It should further be noted that throughout the entire disclosure, the labels such as left, right, front, back, top, bottom, forward, reverse, clockwise, counter clockwise, up, down, or other similar terms such as upper, lower, aft, fore, vertical, horizontal, oblique, proximal, distal, parallel, perpendicular, transverse, longitudinal, etc. have been used for convenience purposes only and are not intended to imply any particular fixed direction or orientation. Instead, they are used to reflect relative locations and/or directions/orientations between various portions of an object.
In addition, reference to “first,” “second,” “third,” and etc. members throughout the disclosure (and in particular, claims) are not used to show a serial or numerical limitation but instead are used to distinguish or identify the various members of the group.
