INSULATED CONTAINER WITH THERMAL STORAGE LINER

Abstract

A container assembly has a soft-sided insulated wall structure. It has an internal chamber in which to place objects, such as foodstuffs, to be kept cool or warm. There is a removable liner that is sized to nest snuggly within the outside wall structure. The liner and the outside wall structure have mating mountings. The liner is foldable in a paper bag style to facilitate compact placement in a refrigerator. The liner has thermal storage elements. The bottom wall panel may have two thermal storage elements, and a fold between them. The side walls may be bi-folding, and may have thermal storage elements to either side of the fold. The liner may be waterproof. The liner may be self-folding when placed on its rear face or on its front face, as may be.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the field of portable insulated containers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Insulated containers have become popular for carrying either articles that may best be served cool, such as beverages or salads, or warm, such as appetizers, and so on. Often such containers are used for carrying children's lunches, as when at school.

Soft-sided insulated containers have the advantage of being relatively light, and so therefore relatively easily carried, and relatively forgiving in terms of imparting damage to the objects placed within them. However, it may be desirable to obtain the insulative benefit of a soft-sided insulated container, in combination with a thermal storage member, such as an ice pack or gel pack, or heating pack, as may be. Sometimes these containers may by used to carry lunches, which may include a sandwich, fruit, carrot and celery sticks, a drink, cookies, and so on. However, cooling packs (as they most normally may be) tend to present a number of convenience and use issues. The present inventor provides a thermal storage package for use in conjunction with a container that may tend to address these issues.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an aspect of the invention there is a container assembly. It has an insulated wall structure defining therewithin a chamber in which to receive objects. The wall structure has a closure operable to govern access to the chamber. The container assembly has a removable liner that is mountable within the wall structure. The wall structure and the liner have mating mountings by which to fix location of the liner when mounted within the wall structure. The liner is a folding collapsible liner. The liner has a thermal storage element.

In a feature of that aspect of the invention, the liner folds on a paper bag folding pattern. In another feature, with the liner nested within the soft-sided insulated wall structure, the wall structure and the liner are collapsible and foldable together in a paper bag folding pattern. In another feature, when laid sideways, the liner is biased to self-fold. In another feature, the liner is opaque. In still another feature, the liner is open-topped and water holding.

In another feature, the liner has a base wall, a front wall, a rear wall and folding side walls. At least one of the thermal storage elements is provided in each of the folding side walls.

In another feature, the liner has a base wall and an upstanding peripheral wall; and the base wall has at least one of the thermal storage elements. In still another feature, the base wall has first and second ones of said thermal storage elements, and a there is a fold line between the first and second thermal storage elements.

In still another feature the liner has a base, a front wall, a rear wall, a left hand side wall, and a right hand side wall. The base has a pair of first and second thermal storage elements separated by a transverse fold line running cross-wise between said side walls. The front wall has at least one said thermal storage member. The rear wall has at least one said thermal storage member. Each of said side walls has at least first and second ones of the thermal storage elements separated by a fold line extending in an up-and-down direction. In a further feature, each of said the walls of the liner is foldable, and mounting hardware is mounted to an upper portions of the side walls distant from the base wall, and said hardware is asymmetrically mounted.

In another aspect of the invention there is a soft-sided insulated container assembly. It includes a soft-sided insulated container and a removable liner. The liner is nestingly matable within the collapsible soft-sided insulated container. The soft-sided insulated container has a body having a base wall, a front wall, a rear wall, a left-hand side wall, a right-hand side wall, and a top wall. The base wall, front wall, rear wall, left-hand side wall and right-hand side wall are co-operable to define five sides of a box having a chamber defined therewithin. The box has a top opening. The lid defines a closure member of the box, and is movable to govern access to the chamber through the opening. The liner having a bottom wall, front wall, rear wall, left-hand side wall, and right-hand side wall co-operable to define an open-topped receptacle. The liner is liquid-tight. The left-hand side wall and the right-hand side wall are foldable. The liner is foldable from a deployed position to a folded position. In the folded position of the liner the left-hand and right-hand sidewalls are folded and the front wall of the liner and the rear wall of the liner are brought closer together than in the deployed position. The liner has a thermal storage member defined in at least one of (a) the bottom wall of the liner; (b) the front wall of the liner; and (c) the rear wall of the liner.

In a feature of that aspect of the invention, the soft-sided insulated container is also foldable. In a further feature, the soft-sided insulated container and the liner are foldable together when the liner is nested within the soft-sided insulated container and the assembly is empty. In another feature, at least one of the left-hand side wall and the right-hand side wall has a thermal storage element. In still another feature, the soft-sided insulated container and the liner have mating mountings by which to fix location of the liner within the soft-sided insulated container. In again another feature, both the insulated container and the liner are collapsible in a paper bag folding configuration.

In another feature, the liner bottom wall is a bi-folding bottom wall having a fold line extending cross-wise between the left-hand side wall and the right-hand side wall. There is a first thermal storage member and a second thermal storage member. The fold line extends between the first and second thermal storage members of the bottom wall. Each of the left-hand side wall and the right-hand side wall is bi-folding, and has a fold line extending length-wise away from the bottom wall. Each side wall has a first thermal storage member and a second thermal storage member. The fold line extends between the first and second thermal storage members of each of the side walls respectively. The front wall has at least a first thermal storage member. The rear wall has at least a first thermal storage member.

The features of the aspects of the invention may be mixed and matched as appropriate without need for multiplication and repetition of all possible permutations ad combinations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other aspects and features of the invention may be more readily understood with the aid of the illustrative Figures below, showing an example, or examples, embodying the various aspects and features of the invention, provided by way of illustration, and in which:

FIG. 1a shows a perspective view from in front, to one side and above of an example of an embodiment of a collapsible soft-sided insulated container assembly;

FIG. 1b is a front view of the folded container assembly of FIG. 1a;

FIG. 1c is a left-hand side or end view of the folded container assembly of FIG. 1a;

FIG. 1d is a front view of the container assembly of FIG. 1a;

FIG. 1e is a rear view of the container assembly of FIG. 1a;

FIG. 1f is a top view of the container assembly of FIG. 1a;

FIG. 1g is a bottom view of the container assembly of FIG. 1a;

FIG. 1h is a side view of the container assembly of FIG. 1a;

FIG. 1i is a view of the container of FIG. 1c in an alternate folded configuration;

FIG. 2a is a developed view of the container assembly of FIG. 1a;

FIG. 2b is a cross-sectional view of the wall structure of the container assembly of FIG. 1a; taken on section ‘2b-2b’ of FIG. 1h;

FIG. 3 is a view of the container assembly of FIG. 1a in an open condition, with its internal liner lifted out;

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the liner of the assembly of FIG. 3 lying on its side in a folded condition;

FIG. 5a is a developed view of an embodiment of the liner of FIG. 4;

FIG. 5b is a view of an alternate embodiment of the liner of FIG. 5a;

FIG. 5c is a view of another alternate embodiment of the liner of FIG. 5a;

FIG. 5d is a view of another alternate embodiment of the liner of FIG. 5a;

FIG. 5e is a view of a further alternate embodiment of the liner of FIG. 5a;

FIG. 5f is a view of a still further alternate embodiment of the liner of FIG. 5a;

FIG. 5g is a yet still further alternate embodiment of the liner of FIG. 5c;

FIG. 6a is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of liner to that of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6b is a front view of the liner of FIG. 6a, the rear view being the same;

FIG. 6c is a side view of the liner of FIG. 6a, the opposite side view being the same;

FIG. 6d is a bottom view of the liner of FIG. 6a;

FIG. 6e is a folded perspective view from the side of the liner of FIG. 6a;

FIG. 7a is a developed view of the liner of FIG. 6a; and

FIG. 7b is an isometric schematic of the assembly of the liner of FIG. 7a.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description that follows, and the embodiments described therein, are provided by way of illustration of an example, or examples, of particular embodiments of the principles of the present invention. These examples are provided for the purposes of explanation, and not of limitation, of those principles and of the invention. In the description, like parts are marked throughout the specification and the drawings with the same respective reference numerals. The drawings are substantially to scale, except where noted otherwise, such as in those instances in which proportions may have been exaggerated in order more clearly to depict certain features.

For the purposes of this description, it may be that a Cartesian frame of reference may be employed. In such a frame of reference, the long, or largest, dimension of an object may be considered to extend in the direction of the x-axis, the base of the article, where substantially planar, may be considered to extend in an x-y plane, and the height of the article may be measured in the vertical, or z-direction. In other contexts, the z-direction may be the through thickness of a substantially planar panel where the major dimensions lie in the x- and y directions. The largest container panels herein may be designated arbitrarily as either the front and rear sides or top and bottom sides, faces, or portions of the container. Similarly, the closure member, or opening is arbitrarily designated as being at the top, and the base panel is designated as being at the bottom, as these terms may be appropriate for the customary orientation in which the objects may usually be found, sold, or employed, notwithstanding that the objects may be picked up and placed on one side or another from time to time at the user's choice. It should also be understood that, within the normal range of temperatures to which human food and human touch is accustomed, although the term cooler, or cooler container, or cooler bag, may be used, such insulated structures may generally also be used to aid in keeping food, beverages, or other objects either warm or hot as well as cool, cold, or frozen.

In this specification reference is made to insulated containers. The adjective “insulated” is intended to be given its usual and normal meaning as understood by persons skilled in the art. It is not intended to encompass single layers, or skins, of conventional webbing materials, such as Nylon (t.m.), woven polyester, canvas, cotton, burlap, leather, paper and so on, that are not otherwise indicated as having, or being relied upon to have, particular properties as effective thermal insulators other than in the context of being provided with heat transfer resistant materials or features beyond that of the ordinary sheet materials in and of themselves. Following from Phillips v. AWH Corp., this definition provided herein is intended to supplant any dictionary definition, and to prevent interpretation in the US Patent Office (or any other Patent Office) that strays from the customary and ordinary meaning of the term “insulated”. The Applicant also explicitly excludes cellophane, waxed paper, tin foil, paper, or other single use disposable (i.e., not intended to be re-used) materials from the definition of “washable”.

Similarly, this description may tend to distinguish various embodiments of hard shell containers from soft-sided containers. In the jargon of the trade, a soft-sided cooler, or bag, or container, is one that does not have a substantially rigid, high density exoskeleton. A typical example of a container having a hard exoskeleton is one having a molded shell, e.g., of ABS or polyethylene, or other common types of molded plastic. Rather, a soft-sided container may tend not to be substantially rigid, but may rather have a skin that is flexible, or crushable, or sometimes foldable. By way of an example, which is not intended to be exhaustive, comprehensive, exclusive or limiting, a soft-sided cooler may have an outer skin, a layer of insulation, and an internal skin, both the internal and external skins being of some kind of webbing, be it a woven fabric, a nylon sheet, or some other membrane. The layer of insulation, which may be a sandwich of various components, is typically a flexible or resilient layer, perhaps of a relatively soft and flexible foam. In some examples, a soft-sided container may still be a soft-sided container where, as described herein, it may include a substantially rigid liner, or may include one or more battens (which may be of a relatively hard plastic) concealed within the soft sided wall structure more generally, or where hard molded fittings may be used either at a container rim or lip, or to provided a base or a mounting point for wheels, but where the outside of the assembly is predominantly of soft-sided panels. Once again, this commentary is intended to forestall the adoption by the US Patent Office, (or any other Patent Office), of an interpretation of the term “soft-sided” that diverges from the ordinary and customary meaning of the term as understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art in the industry, and as used herein.

FIGS. 1a-1h, illustrate a container assembly, indicated generally as 20. It is a soft-sided insulated container, and may be a collapsible soft-sided insulated container. That is, container assembly 20 may be a folding bag or sack, as indicated in the collapsed and folded views of FIGS. 1b-1c. An alternate folded configuration is shown in FIG. 1i. The bag, or container assembly, 20, may have a wall structure indicated generally as 22. Wall structure 22 may be a soft-sided insulated wall structure. Wall structure 22 may include a front wall 24, a rear wall 26, a bottom wall 28 a left-hand side wall 30 and a right hand side wall 32. It may also include a further wall panel or member, or extension, such as may have the form of a closure member, or top wall, or lid 34. The front, rear, left hand and right hand side wall panels may be arranged about the periphery of the base or bottom wall panel such that they co-operate to define five sides of an open topped-box or chamber, that chamber being indicated in FIG. 3 generally as 36. The entire structure may have a carrying handle, 35, which may be suitably located at an upper portion of structure 22 such as at the juncture of the lid 34 and the rear wall 26. The carrying handle may have a releasable handle clip, that may permit the handle to snap to a mating ring fitting either across the bag on the ridge of the hinge (e.g., when empty), or diagonally across lid 34 (e.g., such that the handle will be above the center of the enclosure when full, so that the bag may tend to hang “square”).

Wall structure 22 may fold in the manner of a paper bag. In this specification “paper bag folding” is a defined term. It is based on the manner in which paper bags were commonly folded and supplied in the 1960's. That is, in one style of paper bag folding, the left and right hand side walls 30, 32 may be bi-folding along their vertical centerline, as at 45; to have folding portions 40, 42, which may be trapezoidal; and a triangular bottom fold, or folds, 44, 46. On folding, bottom wall 28 may fold into two halves, as at 50, 52 along central fold line 55, as seen in FIG. 1g. When the bag folds, the front and rear walls move toward each other, and, as folded, lie in parallel planes one atop the other. In another type of paper bag folding format, as illustrated in FIG. 1i, the bottom panel was not bi-folded, but was supplied flat, as in grocery store bags. In that type of paper bag folding, the rear wall of the bag folded back upon itself on a fold line at a distance up the rear wall corresponding to the half width of the base. The front wall and base wall remained flat. In this second kind of folding bag, the bottom wall may include a stiffener or batten to aid in keeping the bottom wall flat. Such a stiffener or batten may also have the form of an external abrasion resistant member such as may provide additional protection when placed on or against rough surfaces.

It may be that in either a partially full condition, as in FIGS. 1a and 1b, or fully collapsed condition, as in FIG. 1c, lid 34 may reach over, and over-fold, the upper margin 58 of from wall 24, such that lid 34 lies flat against front wall 24. Front wall 24 may have a releasable securement 48, such as may have the form of a fabric hook-and-eye patch such as sold under the trade mark “Velcro”. Similarly the inside margin of lid 34 may have a mating releasable securement such as may be a mating hook-and-eye fastener patch 38, also such as may be “Velcro”. Releasable fasteners 48 and 38 mate to secure lid 34 in the folded-down configuration. In the Figures such as FIGS. 1c, and 1h, the right hand view is the same as the left-hand view except of opposite hand. The rear view of the collapsed embodiments is the same as the rear view of FIG. 1e of the partially expanded or fully expanded conditions. These additional views are not shown to avoid duplication.

When the container is full, as shown in FIGS. 1d-1h, it may have a generally rectangular or cubic, six-sided, box shape, in which the bottom, front, rear, left and right walls form five sides of an open-topped box, and lid 34 defines a closure member that is hingedly attached to the upper margin of rear wall 26, as at 25, and releasably secured about the remainder of the upper lip or rim, or margin of the side 30, 32 and front 24 container walls by a releasable securement 62. Releasable securement 62 may be a tracked fastener, and may have the form of a zipper. Lid 34 is thereby releasably securable, and is movable between first and second positions (i.e., closed and open) to govern access to chamber 36.

In terms of construction, front wall 24, bottom wall 28, rear wall 26 and lid 34 may all be formed from a continuous strip of material, or layers of materials, as may be described below. Left and right hand side walls or panels 30, 32 may then be sewn or otherwise secured to the side margins of the larger strip of panel components. Alternatively, walls 24, 26, 28, 30, 32 and lid 34 may be cut from a developed blank of material, or layers of materials, and sewn or quilted together. This collapsible soft-sided, insulated wall structure assembly 22 forms the exterior carcase of wall container assembly 20.

Wall structure 22 may have several layers as seen in FIG. 3b. While FIG. 2b is primarily of a section of bottom wall 26, it is intended to be generic in respect of front, bottom, rear, and top walls. There may be an external skin 72, a layer of thermal insulation, 74, and an internal skin 76. External skin 72 may be a woven or other fabric skin. Thermal insulation 74 may be an open-cell or closed-cell foam. Internal skin 76 may be a PVC or other sheet, and may be opaque. It may be that internal skin 76 is part of a continuous internal lining or skin or membrane 70 of container assembly 20 more generally, that internal liner being secured to the inside of container assembly 20 about the upper rim of chamber 36 more generally, as by sewing at the main seams, and may be seamed within binding or piping as at 64 and 66. Membrane 70 may define a seamless lining. Internal membrane 70 may be a waterproof lining. In FIG. 3b, the thickness of skins 72, 76 have been disproportionately exaggerated for the purpose of easy understanding. They are actually thin webs, having a thickness of perhaps 3-10 mils. The outer skin may be a woven nylon cloth. It may be a scuff or abrasion resistant cloth and may have an 800 denier or 1050 denier, or similar grade or thickness. By contrast, the thermal storage element and the insulation may each be ⅜″ (1 cm) thick (+/−).

It may be desired for container assembly 20 to have thermal storage members 60 as may be. It may also be desirable for such thermal storage members to be removable, so that they may, for example, be placed in the freezer over-night to solidify the cooling pack gel, or brine, as may be. They may then be put in the container the next day to keep the student's lunch cold or cool. That is, by being removable it is necessary only to put the cooling packs, members 60, in the freezer, rather than the entire, rather more bulky, bag structure 22. For example, the user may prepare a school lunch the night before, and place it in the refrigerator. At the same time the flat and relatively compact cooling packs, namely thermal storage members 60, may be placed in the freezer to solidify. The next morning, the thermal storage members 60, (however many there may be), may be taken out of the freezer and introduced into chamber 36 of container assembly 20, cool (or warm). It may also be that the user may wish to remove or introduce the cooling pack so that it may be washed, or that by such removal the inside of wall structure 20 may be washed, as may be desirable from time to time.

It may be that assembly 20 includes a liner 80. Liner 80 may include several parts or regions or portions, such as may be identified as a base of bottom wall panel or base wall portion 82, and an upstanding peripheral wall 84 that includes four co-operating portions or elements, namely a front wall or front wall panel 86, a rear wall or rear wall panel 88, a left side wall or left side wall panel 90, and a right hand side wall panel 92. Liner 80 may be symmetrical front-to-back and left-to-right, such that front wall panel 86 and rear wall panel 88 are the same; and left side wall panel 90 and right hand side wall panel 92 are the same. The sidewall panels may be bi-folding, having a central vertical fold line as at 95, and may have folding corner portions or regions or gussets, the diagonal fold lines being shown as at 85, such that the pair of first and second bi-folding portions or halves are indicated at 94 and 96, respectively. Base or bottom wall portion 82 may also have a central bi-folding line, as at 75. Bi-folding line 75 runs transversely with respect to liner 80 generally. That is, bi-fold line 75 runs cross-wise between left hand wall panel 90 and right hand wall panel 92, generally parallel to front wall panel 86 and rear wall panel 88.

The various side margins 98 are welded or otherwise bonded together to form a continuous peripheral wall that is water tight. That is, liner 80 may be made from a waterproof plastic stock or substrate or web or sheeting. When thus formed, is may define an open-topped vessel, or container, or bag, or accommodation, or holder, or bulkhead, or receptacle 100, however it may be termed, that, while open at the top in the manner of a five-sided open-topped box, will contain liquids up to the rim, and so may hold ice cubes and melted ice water, or a spilled drink, and so on, rather than leaking into the bag more generally. That vessel so formed is of a suitably corresponding size to nest smoothly and relatively snuggly within soft-sided insulated wall structure 22.

Soft-sided insulated wall structure 22 and liner 80 may include mutually engageable releasable mountings, or fittings, such as male and female members such as releasable snaps 102, 104 being located at or near the upper margins of wall structure 22 and liner 80 respectively.

Liner 80 may be provided with one or more thermal storage elements 60. That is to say, it may have an enclosed volume, or space, or accommodation, or trap, or capsule, or strip, or pouch, or bladder, such as may be identified as a blister 110 in which a phase-changing brine or gel may be captured, that gel or brine being typically a suitable ice pack medium. Such materials have been known for some years. Blister 110 may be a first blister. There may also be a second blister 112, such as may be located opposite blister 110 across central base bi-fold fold line 75.

The cross-section of base wall panel 82 is shown in FIG. 2b. Thickness has been exaggerated for the purpose of easy comprehension. Each of first blister 110 and second blister 112 may be formed by sealing a first, or outside, skin 114 to a second, or inside, skin 116, with a void or vacancy or chamber 120 therebetween. That vacancy has a closed periphery other than a feeder or sprue 118 by which chamber 120 is filled with gel 108 at the time of manufacture. The feeder may then be sealed, typically by thermal welding. The boundaries, or edges, or margin, or periphery of chamber 120 may be formed by a peripheral weldment of skins 114, 116 as indicated at 122. When viewed in plan view, weldment 122 may define an oval or oblong, or rectangular—with rounded-corners shape or footprint. The resultant chamber may be substantially rectangular, with the through-thickness in the z-direction begin smaller, if not much smaller, than the width in the x-direction (side-to-side) or the depth in the y-direction (front to back). The dimension in the side-to-side x-direction may be the largest dimension of chamber 120. In the embodiment shown, the dimension in the x-direction may be 3-5 times the dimension in the y-direction. The through thickness may, when lying undisturbed on a flat surface, may be of the order of ½ inch or less, and may be about ¼″ or 3/16″. The membrane or web of base wall panel 82 may be very thin as compared to the through thickness of chamber 120, and may have a welding crease, as at 75. Skins 114, 116 may in one embodiment be transparent, and the freezing gel may have a blue or turquoise colour. In another embodiment skins 114 and 116 may be opaque, and may have a predominantly white colour. It may be that skin 76 has a reflective surface, such as a metallic or metallicised reflective surface facing toward liner 80.

It may also be that front wall panel 86 and rear wall panel 88 may also have thermal storage elements 60. Although in the more general condition the thermal storage elements of panels 86 and 88 may differ in size, shape, and number, in some embodiments it may be convenient that panels 86 and 88 be the same (so that it does not matter if liner 80 is inadvertently installed back-to-front), and that the thermal storage elements of those panels be of the same size and number. For example, in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 5a, 5c, 5d, 5e and 5g, each of the front and back panels has first, second, and third such blisters or pouches 124, 126 and 128 respectively from lowermost to highest. The blisters extend across substantially the entire width of liner 60, less margins near the edge creases. First and second blisters 124, 126 are separated by a weldment 132; second and third blisters 126, 128 are separated by another weldment 134. Weldments 132 and 134 do not extend fully to weldment 122, but leave gaps as at 136 to permit initial filling of the pouches on manufacture, and to permit evening-out of the gel. The weldments tend to encourage the blisters to retain a relatively flat shape, and to keep the amount of gel in the blisters relatively equal and to prevent sagging, such as might otherwise occur in a larger, undivided single vacancy pouch when the gel collects at one end under gravity. As with base or bottom wall panel 82, blisters 124, 126, 128 may be constructed as pouches formed between two skins that have been welded or bonded together, as described above.

Further, it may be that side wall panels 90 and 92 may have thermal storage elements 140, 142, spaced apart on opposite sides of vertical fold line 95, as shown in the embodiments of FIGS. 5a, 5e, and 5g. The construction of blisters 140, 142 in FIGS. 5a and 5e is the same as described above, except insofar as the lower ends, or tips, are pointed, or tapered, to stay clear of fold lines 44, 46 respectively. Given the nature of the relative narrowness of the bi-folding sidewall, in which each of the bi-folds is less than ⅓ of the front wall width W₂₀, elements 140, 142 may tend to be tall and thin, being much longer in the vertical z-direction than in the depth y-direction of the bag. As noted above, the thickness of the skin membrane between elements 140 and 142 may be very much thinner than the blisters, and, moreover, may have a pre-creased weld line, or set of welded spots in a line, along the mid-web center line.

Container assembly 20 may have gel-containing blisters in bottom or base wall panel 82; in either or both of front wall panel 86 and rear wall panel 88; or in sidewall panels 90, 92; or in any combination of them. It may be convenient to have all of such elements as in the embodiment of FIG. 5a. In a further embodiment of the liner of FIG. 5c, the bottom wall element, or elements, could be omitted. However, in the embodiment of FIG. 5b, liner 150 only has a bottom wall thermal storage element 144, made of bi-folding pair of thermal storage elements 146 and 148. In the embodiment of FIG. 5d, liner 160 may have both bottom wall and front and rear wall panel elements. In the embodiment of FIG. 5e, liner 170 has sidewall elements 172, 174 that are fed with coolant through feeders 176, 178 that connect to base wall elements 110, 112, folds in the second paper bag folding mode, rather than the first. In the still further embodiment of FIG. 5f, liner 180 has a single, non-folding, bottom wall element 182, and a bi-folding rear wall panel 184 with elements 186, and 188 separated by a fold line 185. In the further embodiment of FIG. 5g, liner 190 has sidewall thermal storage elements 192, 194 that, rather than having the long tapering ends as in the manner of elements 140, 142, have squarely truncated ends that are level with, and connected by feeders 196, 198 to, the middle thermal storage elements of the front and rear wall panels. In this way the bottom ends of the sidewall cooling elements are above the fold.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5e, some mounting hardware 200, 202 is located on the side walls of the liner, and in such position the mounting is offset in each case to one side of the fold line, as indicated.

In the embodiments having a bi-folding bottom panel thermal storage element, the weight of the thermal storage element is significant relative to the buckling resistance of the bottom wall web or membrane between thermal storage elements 110, 112. The gel may be taken as having approximately the same density as water. Given that the membrane is very thin, when the inner bag, namely liner 80 (or 150, 160, 170, 190) is placed on its side (namely to lie upon its rear face or on its front face), the weight of the uppermost of elements 110, 112 (whichever it may be), may tend to cause the web to buckle, and to initiate folding by itself. Since the webs of the side-walls will resist stretching in tension, the direction of folding can only be for the center fold of the bottom wall to move in the direction of the top of the bag. When the bottom wall starts to fold, it will, in turn, tend to urge the side walls to fold inward as well (they cannot fold outward since that would be restrained by tension in the bottom wall panel). Where the rear wall panel has additional thermal storage elements, such as 124, 126, 128, the weight of those elements may tend to hasten the collapse of both the bottom wall panel and the sidewall panel. In some embodiments, the bag may tend to be self-folding. Slight encouragement, such as the touch of a finger, may tend to initiate buckling of the bottom wall, and may be sufficient to cause the liner to self-fold. It is desirable for the bag, i.e., liner 80, to fold readily and easily so that it may be conveniently placed in the refrigerator in a compact package.

As described above, the folding of wall structure 22 in the paper-bag style may occur in either of two modes. In a first mode, shown in FIG. 1e, the bottom panel is also folding, such that it folds along a transversely running central fold, 55, (seen in FIG. 2e) that folds upward and inward toward the side walls. This may occur where bottom wall 28 does not have an internal batten or floor stiffener; or the bottom compartment does have a bi-folding thermal storage element or has two smaller thermal storage elements placed side-by-side to permit folding on central fold 55. In the alternate embodiment of folding, shown in FIG. 1i, such as where there is a rigid floor batten, or there is a rigid single-piece thermal storage member that does not fold, the rear panel may fold as at crease 54 with the bottom margin 56 of rear wall 26 folding up behind the rest of rear wall 26. In this embodiment, bottom panel 28 more or less pivots such that half 52 of bottom wall 28 lies generally parallel to and behind the bottom margin 56 of rear wall 26.

An alternate embodiment of liner is shown and indicated generally as 220 in FIGS. 6a-6e and 7a-7b. Liner 220 is movable between a first position, being the open or deployed or expanded position shown in FIGS. 6a-6d, and a collapsed or folded position, as shown in FIG. 6e. Liner 220 may include several parts or regions or portions, such as may be identified as a base of bottom wall panel or base wall portion 222, and an upstanding peripheral wall 224 that includes four co-operating portions or elements, namely a front wall or front wall panel 226, a rear wall or rear wall panel 228, a left side wall or left side wall panel 230, and a right hand side wall panel 232. Liner 220 may be symmetrical front-to-back and left-to-right, such that front wall panel 226 and rear wall panel 228 are the same; and left side wall panel 230 and right hand side wall panel 232 are the same. The sidewall panels may be bi-folding, having a central vertical fold line as at 95, and may have folding corner portions or regions or gussets, the diagonal fold lines being shown as at 85, such that the pair of first and second bi-folding portions or halves are indicated at 94 and 96, respectively. Base or bottom wall portion 222 may also have a central bi-folding line, as at 75. Bi-folding line 75 runs transversely with respect to liner 220 generally. That is, bi-fold line 75 runs cross-wise between left hand wall panel 230 and right hand wall panel 232, generally parallel to front wall panel 226 and rear wall panel 228.

Liner 220 may be made from a waterproof plastic stock or substrate or web or sheeting. When thus formed, is may define an open-topped vessel, or container, or bag, or accommodation, or holder, or bulkhead, or receptacle 240, however it may be termed, that, while open at the top in the manner of a five-sided open-topped box, will contain liquids up to the rim, and so may hold ice cubes and melted ice water, or a spilled drink, and so on, rather than leaking into the bag more generally. That vessel so formed is of a suitably corresponding size to nest smoothly and relatively snuggly within soft-sided insulated wall structure 22.

In this embodiment, liner 220 is made of three main members, or pieces, of sheet stock that have been heat sealed together along their mating edges. The first member 242 is a single rectangular sheet that is folded to form front, base, and rear wall portions or panels 226, 222 and 228 respectively. The second and third members 244 and 246 are rectangular sheets that have been cut to shape to define sidewall panels 230, 232. The side and bottom edges 248, 250 of second and third members 244, 246 are heat sealed to the middle and end side edges 252, 254 of first member 242. The general form of assembly is shown in FIG. 7b.

As with liner 80, liner 220 has a set of thermal storage elements 60. It has a first pouch, or bladder, such as may be identified as 258 in which a phase-changing brine or gel may be captured, as above, by heat sealing to the outside of base panel 222, with the thermal storage gel being trapped between the respective inside and outside skins 116, 114, as before, by a peripheral heat seal or weld 256. The internal space of bladder 258 is divided into two sub-zones or blisters 260, 262 by a central partition defined by a central heat welded seam that runs cross-wise in the panel, making a preferential folding location, indicated, as before, as fold line 75.

It may also be that front wall panel 226 and rear wall panel 228 may also have thermal storage elements 60. In this embodiment, those storage elements are the same, and are indicated as 266 and 268. They have peripheral heat seals or welds 270, and internal heat seals or welds 272 that run lengthwise rather than cross-wise. Welds 272 are spaced apart and divide elements 266, 268 as may be into three zones or portions or blisters 274, 276, 278, as shown, such as may tend to discourage too much gel from collecting in one place. As before the thermal storage elements may differ in size, shape, and number. The internal weldments tend to encourage the blisters to retain a relatively flat shape, and to keep the amount of gel in the blisters relatively equal and to prevent sagging. In this embodiment there are not thermal storage elements in side walls 230, 232. As above, the weight of the gel, and the pre-made fold lines may tend to cause the assembly to be biased toward self-folding when placed upon its side.

Soft-sided insulated wall structure 22 and liner 220 may include mutually engageable releasable mountings, or fittings, such as male and female members such as releasable snaps 102, 104 being located at or near the upper margins of wall structure 22 and liner 220 respectively. In this case, those connectors or fasteners are mounted at the upper margins of the side walls, to one side of the centerline, i.e., in an asymmetric position. The snap on the opposite side wall is similarly offset to the other side of the vertical centerline. The mating snaps in the external soft-sided insulated container wall structure 22 are correspondingly mounted.

Upper margins 280 of the front and back wall panels 230, 232 may include a folded-over hem or edge 282, which may include an internal polypropylene stiffener batten or sheet 284 such as may tend to spread load and deter tearing. The top margin may be welded of crimped to give a crisp edge. An aperture in the form or an oval hand-hold 286 is formed through the folded over edge and stiffener. In the embodiment shown, this reinforced margin is free of fasteners. In other embodiments it could have fasteners as indicated in the alternatives noted above.

The features of the various embodiments may be mixed and matched as may be appropriate without the need for further description of all possible variations, combinations, and permutations of those features.

The principles of the present invention are not limited to these specific examples which are given by way of illustration. It is possible to make other embodiments that employ the principles of the invention and that fall within its spirit and scope of the invention. Since changes in and or additions to the above-described embodiments may be made without departing from the nature, spirit or scope of the invention, the invention is not to be limited to those details, but only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A container assembly comprising: a soft-sided insulated wall structure defining therewithin a chamber in which to receive objects, said wall structure having a closure operable to govern access to said chamber;a removable liner mountable within said wall structure;said wall structure and said liner having mating mountings by which to fix location of said liner when mounted within said wall structure;said liner being a folding collapsible liner;said liner having at least a first thermal storage element.

2. The container assembly of claim 1 wherein said liner folds on a paper bag folding pattern.

3. The container assembly of claim 1 wherein, with said liner nested within said soft-sided insulated wall structure, said wall structure and said liner are collapsible and foldable together in a paper bag folding pattern.

4. The container assembly of claim 1 wherein when laid sideways, said liner is biased to self-fold.

5. The container assembly of claim 1 wherein said liner is opaque.

6. The container assembly of claim 1 wherein said liner is open topped and water holding.

7. The container assembly of claim 1 wherein said liner has a base wall, a front wall, a rear wall and folding side walls, and at least one of said thermal storage elements is provided in each of said folding side walls.

8. The container assembly of claim 1 wherein said liner has a base wall and an upstanding peripheral wall; and said base wall has at least one said thermal storage element.

9. The container assembly of claim 8 wherein said base wall has first and second ones of said thermal storage elements, and a fold line between said first and second thermal storage elements.

10. The container assembly of claim 1 wherein said liner has a base, a front wall, a rear wall, a left hand side wall, and a right hand side wall; said base has a pair of first and second thermal storage elements separated by a transverse fold line running cross-wise between said side walls; said front wall has at least one said thermal storage member; said rear wall has at least one said thermal storage member, and each of said side walls has at least first and second ones of said thermal storage elements separated by a fold line extending in an up-and-down direction.

11. The container assembly of claim 10 wherein each of said side walls of said liner is foldable, and mounting hardware is mounted to an upper portions of said side walls distant from said base wall, and said hardware is asymmetrically mounted.

12. A soft-sided insulated container assembly comprising: a soft-sided insulated container and a removable liner, said liner being nestingly matable within said collapsible soft-sided insulated container;said soft-sided insulated container having a body having a base wall, a front wall, a rear wall, a left-hand side wall, a right-hand side wall, and a top wall;said base wall, front wall, rear wall, left-hand side wall and right-hand side wall being co-operable to define five sides of a box having a chamber defined therewithin, said box having a top opening;said lid defining a closure member of said box, and being movable to govern access to said chamber through said opening;said liner having a bottom wall, front wall, rear wall, left-hand side wall, and right-hand side wall co-operable to define an open-topped receptacle;said liner being waterproof;said left-hand side wall and said right-hand side wall being foldable;said liner being foldable from a deployed position to a folded position;in said folded position of said liner said left-hand and right-hand sidewalls are folded and said front wall of said liner and said rear wall of said liner are brought closer together than in said deployed position; andsaid liner having a thermal storage member defined in a least one of (a) said bottom wall of said liner; (b) said front wall of said liner; and (c) said rear wall of said liner.

13. The soft-sided insulated container assembly of claim 12 wherein said soft-sided insulated container is also foldable.

14. The soft-sided container assembly of claim 12 wherein said soft-sided insulated container and said liner are foldable together when said liner is nested within said soft-sided insulated container and said assembly is empty.

15. The soft-sided insulated container assembly of claim 12 wherein any of said left-hand side wall and said right-hand side wall has a thermal storage element.

16. The soft-sided insulated container assembly of claim 12 wherein said soft-sided insulated container and said liner have mating mountings by which to fix location of said liner within said soft-sided insulated container.

17. The soft-sided insulated container assembly of claim 12 wherein both said insulated container and said liner are collapsible in a paper bag folding pattern.

18. The soft-sided insulated container assembly of claim 12 wherein said liner bottom wall is a bi-folding bottom wall having a fold line extending cross-wise between said left-hand side wall and said right-hand side wall, a first thermal storage member and a second thermal storage member, the fold line extending between said first and second thermal storage members of said bottom wall.

19. The soft-sided insulated container assembly of claim 12 wherein: said liner bottom wall is a bi-folding bottom wall having a fold line extending cross-wise between said left-hand side wall and said right-hand side wall; a first thermal storage member and a second thermal storage member, the fold line extending between said first and second thermal storage members of said bottom wall;each of said left-hand side wall and said right-hand side wall is bi-folding, and has a fold line extending length-wise away from said bottom wall, a first thermal storage member and a second thermal storage member, the fold line extending between said first and second thermal storage members of each of said side walls;said front wall has at least a first thermal storage member; andsaid rear wall has at least a first thermal storage member.

20. The soft-sided insulated container assembly of claim 12 wherein said liner is biased to self-fold.