Thermal Container

Abstract

The current invention discloses an easy to use thermal container having a container body and a thermal control assembly. It is preferred that the container body is made of flexible material capable of being deformed by manual force. The thermal control assembly may include a heating pack or chilling pack, which contains chemicals that may generate heating or chilling effects when the chemicals are mixed. Manual manipulation of the heating or chilling pack, which is attached to the container body, may trigger the heating or chilling process and adjust the temperature of the substances kept in the container. The current invention further teaches a thermal container having at least a first compartment and second compartment, while the two compartment contain different substances that may be mixed when the separator of the compartments are dislodged or broken. One embodiment of the thermal container is an improved baby formula bottle.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The current invention relates to thermal containers. In particular, the current invention relates to containers such as bottles or pouches having easy to activate thermal control mechanisms such as a chemical heating pack or a chilling pack attached to the containers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various kinds of containers are widely used in everyday life. Bottles and pouches for a variety of purposes may be found in people's homes, stores, and other business establishments. In many occasions, containers are used to store or transport a liquid for convenience and later consumption and general use. Since temperature and method of storage can directly affect duration or longevity of a substance's shelf life, thermal regulation has a large bearing on how sought-after, enjoyable, and typically perishable a given substance is when it is stored in a container. More specifically, it is desirable to store the liquid at one temperature and adjust it to another temperature not long before use or application. In addition, it is advantageous that the thermal control process—the process to adjust the temperature, may be conducted quickly, within the original container, and/or without much additional equipment or assistance. In some cases, it is also desirable that the adjusted temperature may hold for a prolonged period of time, allowing continued consumption or enjoyment of the liquid in a variety of environments.

One fairly clear example for the benefit of thermal control container is the bottles or pouches used to store or transport baby formula. After mixing formula powder with water, the resulted formula milk is to be consumed by infants. Thus, it would be preferable if the temperature of the formula milk may be controlled. For example, the formula may be warmed up to around body temperature right before consumption. In addition, as many infants consume formula on a daily basis at regular intervals, the useful and practical nature of a self-contained temperature-regulated bottle for baby formula would be ideal. Aside from infant formula, other kinds of liquid containers such as beverage bottles/pouches may benefit from thermal control. For example, it is desirable to avoid using coolers or ice to achieve instant cooling of beverages that may be enjoyed in a picnic, sporting event, or outing. Therefore, the need for controlling the temperature of liquid containers is well-recognized.

Some inventions have attempted to deal with the problem. For example, US20100095948 discloses a bottle warmer includes a flexible tubular sleeve having a closed lower end and an open upper end. The open upper end is to receive a bottle therethough, and the closed lower end is to receive a bottom of the bottle thereagainst. An elastic band is carried by a medial portion of the flexible tubular sleeve to secure the medial portion to an adjacent portion of the bottle, and permit the open upper end to be folded back adjacent the closed lower end to define a pocket. A chemical heat source element is to received by the pocket for warming the bottle.

However, the above mentioned publication is limited in its usage because it requires separate manipulation of the heating source. Moreover, it does not provide for the thermal control to adjust to a lower temperature. The current invention, on the other hand, solves such problems.

Another aspect of container improvement is compartmentalization. This is somewhat related to the thermal control mechanisms because compartmentalization of containers also facilitates enhanced shelf-life, easy storage and transportation. Taking formula bottle as an example, it is desirable to store the formula powder and water separately because dry powder and water both have longer storage lives than the formula milk in similar conditions. Therefore, it is beneficial to separate the bottle or pouch for the formula into more than one compartment, using one for formula powder and the other for water, mixing the two by dislocating or breaking the separating mechanism shortly before consumption.

Some inventions attempted to address such issue. For example, US20110272379 discloses a container having a first compartment configured to hold a first substance, a second compartment configured to hold a second substance, a frangible separator coupled to both the first and second compartments, and an actuator operably attached to the frangible separator. The second compartment is removably attached to the first compartment. The frangible separator forms a seal between the first compartment and the second compartment such that the first substance and second substance do not mix. Actuating the actuator causes at least a portion of the frangible separator to rupture, which creates an opening in the frangible separator and allows the first substance and the second substance to mix. The actuator may be a string.

The above mentioned patent publication and a few similar inventions all share the same problem—they require an actuator, tedious multi-step actions, or extra specific devices to mix the contents of the different compartments. This may prove to be inconvenient and time-consuming. It also adds to the production costs. The current invention, on the other hand, deals with such issue with simple and effective designs.

In summary, various apparatus are known in the art, but their structures are distinctively different from the current invention. Moreover, the prior arts fail to address all of the problems solved by the invention described herein. Several embodiments of this invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be described in more detail herein below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

As indicated above, the existing devices for thermal control and compartmentalization of containers have some notable flaws that require further improvement and optimization. The current invention addresses such issues. The current invention introduces a thermal container comprising a container having a container body and a thermal control assembly attached to the container body. Preferably the container body is made from flexible and malleable materials allowing deformation of the container body by manual force. The thermal control assembly is preferably a heating or chilling pack that contains chemicals. Manual manipulation of the heating or chilling pack may trigger a chemical process in which temperature of the pack is increased or decreased. Since the thermal control assembly is closely attached to the container body, the change of temperature of the thermal control assembly may in turn adjust the temperature of the container and the substances stored in the container, achieving the goal of temperature control.

Container here is broadly designed as any receptacle that may be used to store any substances. In particular, the preferred container is a container having an impervious container body that may be used for the storage and transportation of liquid and solutions. The container may refer to but not be limited to: bottles such as baby formula bottles, alcohol bottles and beverage or water bottles, pouches such as baby formula pouches and beverage pouches, soda cans, drinking receptacles such as mugs or cups, industrial containers for liquids such as fuel or lubricants, and household containers for detergents and cleaning agents.

The container may have a container body made of flexible and malleable materials. Preferably, the container body may be deformed by manual forces. “Deformed” or “deformation” refers to the visible and substantial change of shape and/or dimensions of any part of the container body. “Manual forces” refer generally to the forces that may be exerted by a human being through his/her hands or other body parts without the assistance of external devices. Since the thermal control assembly is attached to the container body, manipulation of the thermal control assembly usually results in the deformation of the container body. Therefore, it is desirable that the deformation of the container body does not result in the damages to the container body, preventing the leakage or spill of the substance stored inside the container body.

The thermal control assembly comprises a heating or chilling source that may effectively adjust the temperature of the substance being stored in the container body. The thermal control assembly may either be suitable to provide heating or chilling effects, depending on the specific purpose of the container design and usage. Preferably, the thermal control assembly comprises a heating pack or a chilling pack containing chemicals. Here the choice of such chemicals may be broad. As long as the chemicals may produce chemical reactions that generate heat or chilling effects at determinable levels, the chemical may be used. Preferably, the chemicals may not be toxic to humans. The heating or chilling reactions may be triggered by squeezing, pinching, bending, or other manual manipulation of the thermal control assembly. In addition, the heating or chilling effects may also be triggered by manually exposing the chemicals to air. To indicate the temperature of the container and the substances kept in the container, it is also desirable to have an indicator, such as temperature sensitive sticker, attached to the external surface of the container and serving to prevent over-heating/over-chilling and/or physical damages resulted from such adjustments.

The thermal control assembly is preferably attached to the container body, either permanently or removably. A permanent attachment is defined as a connection that cannot be broken without damaging the physical integrity of the connecting structures. A removable attachment is characterized with easy and damage-free detachment. Both permanent and removable attachments are within the purview of the current invention. According to the specific usage of the thermal container, either kind of attachment may be chosen. A permanent attachment, such as but not limited to co-welding and co-laminating, may have the advantage of easy to manufacture, cheaper to produce, and being disposable. A removable attachment, on the other hand, may have more flexibility and provide more choices as to what kind of thermal control assembly may be used. Which kind of attachment is used depends on the specific use of the thermal container.

As indicated above, a related feature of the thermal container is the compartmentalization of the container. Keeping different components of a solution or beverage in different compartments may facilitate transportation and prolong the storing period. One example is the formula powder and water that may be mixed to make formula milk. Another example is beverage concentrate and water that may be combined to produce beverages. Generally, the separated storage prevents early degradation and spoil of the substances kept in the container. The current invention uses a special separator to divide the thermal container into at least a first compartment and a second compartment, while the first compartment may be used to store a first substance and a second compartment may be used to store a second substance. In terms of physical arrangements, the first compartment and the second compartment may be positioned in anywhere as long as the two compartments are hermetically separated. One key feature of the separation is that the removal of the separator does not require any additional device or actuator. The preferred design in the current invention is that the separator may be dislodged by manual manipulation of the container body, such as but not limited to pinching, pulling, squeezing, bending, rubbing, and shaking.

The application of the current invention may be extremely broad. As long as it is desirable to have liquid container requiring swift adjustment of temperature without complicated processes or devices, the thermal container may be used for such purposes. For example, the current invention may be used for: baby formula milk, instant soup, protein shakes, chocolate drinks, sports drinks, ice teas, lemonades, instant coffee, and alcoholic drinks such as martini and margarita.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal container that may be heated before the substance in the container is consumed.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal container that may be chilled before the substance in the container is consumed.

It is another object of the current invention to provide a thermal container that does not require external energy for heating and chilling the container.

It is still another object of the current invention to provide a thermal container having a thermal control assembly attached to the container body.

It is another object of the current invention to provide a thermal container having a thermal control assembly that allows triggering the heating or chilling process by manual manipulation of the thermal control assembly.

It is yet another object of the current invention to improve the storage and transportation of the substances kept in the thermal container.

It is another object of the current invention to provide a thermal container having at least two compartments.

It is still another object of the current invention to provide a compartmentalized thermal container wherein the mixing of the substances kept in the different compartments does not require an actuator or special device.

It is another object of the current invention to provide a thermal container having a flexible container body that may be deformed by manual forces.

It is yet another object of the current invention to provide a thermal container that pinching, pulling, squeezing, rubbing, bending, or shaking the container may adjust the temperature of the container and the substances kept in the container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a front view of a first preferred embodiment of the thermal container.

FIG. 2A shows a sectional view of the first preferred embodiment of the thermal container.

FIG. 2B shows an alternative sectional view of the first preferred embodiment of the thermal container.

FIG. 3 shows a front view of the first preferred embodiment of the thermal container with an insulation cover.

FIG. 4A shows a front view of a second preferred embodiment of the thermal container.

FIG. 4B shows a sectional view of the second preferred embodiment of the thermal container.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. Identical elements in the various figures are identified, as far as possible, with the same reference numerals. Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention. Such embodiments are provided by way of explanation of the present invention, which is not intended to be limited thereto. In fact, those of ordinary skill in the art may appreciate upon reading the present specification and viewing the present drawings that various modifications and variations can be made thereto without deviating from the innovative concepts of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a front view of a first preferred embodiment of the thermal container. Shown in FIG. 1 are the thermal container 1 comprising a container body 10 having a bottom 18 and a side wall 15, container cap 20 disposed on the container body 10, a container nipple 30 disposed on the container cap 20 and being secured by the container cap 20 to the container body 10, a thermal control assembly 50 comprising a heating pack 60, a stabilizing structure 80 located at a bottom of the container body 10, and temperature indicators 90 attached to the container body 10.

Here in FIG. 1, the thermal container 1 generally takes the form of a baby formula bottle. However, it should be clear that the thermal container 1 may be any kind of fluid or liquid container as long as the general design of the current invention applies. In addition to baby bottle, embodiments of the thermal containers may include but not limited to: beverage bottles and pouches used for drinks such as water, coffee, tea, soda, juice, soup, cider and alcohol, containers for industrial materials such as fuel and lubricants, and other containers for household usage such as bottles and pouches for condiments, detergents, and cleaning agents. In accordance with the variability of the types of containers that are covered by the current invention, the container cap 20 and container nipple 30 shown in FIG. 1 are not indispensible components of the thermal container 1. On the other hand, while the container body 10 may take many shapes, sizes, colors, and designs, the container body 10 is an essential element of the thermal container 1. The container body may generally have a bottom 18 and a side wall 15. In particular, the container body 10 in FIG. 1 has a top opening that is covered by the container cap 20 and the container nipple 30, the container nipple 30 is secured by the container cap 20 on the container body 10.

The container body 10 may be made from suitable material that is substantially impermeable to liquids at room temperature such as, but not limited to, metal foil, soft rubber, leather, or a plastic such as, but not limited to, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS) and polycarbonate (PC), or paperboard coated with a suitable waterproof coating such as, but not limited to, polyethylene, or some combination thereof. Preferably the container body 10 is made from light, malleable, and flexible materials allowing significant deformation by manual forces. Though this feature is not indispensible, having this feature allows the easier manipulation of other components of the thermal container 1. In particular, the preferred material to make the container body includes but not limited to polyethylene, soft rubber, paper coated with a suitable waterproof coating, or any combinations thereof.

The container cap 20 and contain nipple 30, though not indispensible components of the thermal container 1, may be important for the proper function of containers such as baby formula bottles. The basic design of the container cap 20 and container nipple 30, in regard to their positioning and arrangement on the container body 10, are well known in the arts and person skilled in the art may adjust the design according to the needs and cost of the intended uses.

The thermal control assembly 50 comprises a heating pack 60 which is attached to the side wall 15 of the container body 10. The detailed structure of the heating pack 60 is discussed in the description for FIGS. 2A and 2B.

The temperature indicators 90 provide indication as to the temperature of the container body 10 and the content of the container body 10. A preferred embodiment is the temperature stickers known in the art, such as Factory Effex® temperature stickers, Wahl® temperature points, Four-Position IC Batch and Vacuum Chamber Labels, or any similar indicators that may provide rough estimate for temperature. With the temperature indicators 90, it is easier for a user to decide whether it is necessary to initiate the temperature adjusting process. The temperature indicators 90 are also important to prevent over-heating or over-chilling of the thermal body, serving as a safety mechanism.

Since the container body 10 is preferably made from light, malleable, and flexible materials, it is sometimes desirable to have an additional structure to stabilize the container body 10. The stabilizing structure 80 may be made from same or different material as the container body 10. When it is made from the same material, the stabilizing structure 80 is generally thicker and stronger than the container body 10 to provide extra weight and support. The stabilizing structure 80 is preferably attached to the bottom and/or the lower part of the container body 10, making the container body 10 less likely to roll over or fall down.

The stabilizing structure 80 may take various appropriate forms according to the particular design of the container body 10. For example, the container body 10 may be a plastic pouch with very flexible and malleable walls. To provide for support and possibly insulation, a regular hard-wall baby bottle may be used as the stabilizing structure 80. The thermal container 1 having the plastic pouch container body 10 may be inserted into the regular hard-wall baby bottle after the heating process has been initiated, allowing stable positioning and complete insulation. Using a plastic pouch may also reduce the cost of manufacture and allow easy disposal of the used thermal container and convenient cleaning of the regular baby bottle.

FIG. 2A shows a sectional view of the first preferred embodiment of the thermal container. Shown in FIG. 2 are the thermal container 1 comprising a container body 10 having a bottom 18 and a side wall 15, container cap 20 disposed on the container body 10, a container nipple 30 disposed on the container cap 20 and being secured by the container cap 20 to the container body 10, a thermal control assembly 50 comprising a heating pack 60 having a heating pack cover 75 and heating pack chemical 70, a stabilizing structure 80 located at the bottom of the container body 10. Also shown in FIG. 2A are the first compartment 110 containing first substance 115, second compartment 120 containing second substance 125, and a separator 150 separating the first compartment 110 and the second compartment 120.

In this particular embodiment, the thermal control assembly 50 comprises a heating pack 60. However, it should be noted that the thermal control assembly 50 may comprise other forms of heat source or devices having chilling or cooling effects. For example, the thermal control assembly 50 may include a chilling pack that, when triggered, may cool the container body 10 to a desired temperature. In addition, the thermal control assembly 50 may also include other structure aside from the heat source or chilling packs. For example, the thermal control assembly may include attachment structures that allow the heat source to be secured to the container body 10. Such an attachment structure may be, for instance, a hook-and-loop mechanism, a magnetic coupling, or any structures having similar effects. Preferably, the heating pack 60 is permanently attached to the container body 10, using molding, co-molding, or laminating processes. Alternatively, the heating pack 60 may also be removably attached to the container body 10, allowing more flexibility in terms of container usage.

The heating pack 60 includes a heating pack cover 75 enclosing heating chemicals 70. The heating pack 60 may employ a one-time exothermic chemical reaction that may be triggered by mixing chemicals kept in separate compartments of the heating pack 60 or by exposing the chemicals to air. Such chemical reactions may include but not be limited to catalyzed rusting of iron, crystallization of the sodium acetate, or dissolving calcium chloride. The chemical components of such heat packs are known in the art and a skilled person should be able to adopt the most appropriate form. A user may squeeze or pinch the heating pack 60, or peel away the heating pack cover 75 to trigger the chemical reactions that may generate heat and warm up the container body 10 and the content stored in the container body 10. Since the container body 10 is preferably flexible and malleable, the squeezing or pinching or peeling—manual manipulation of the heating pack—does not require the removal of the heating pack 60 from the container body 10. In fact, it is preferred that the heating pack 60 is not removed from container body 10 and the manual manipulation is conducted while the heating pack 60 is firmly attached. The heating pack cover 75 may also be a label of the container body 10 or the content of the container body 10. When the heating pack cover 75 is peeled away, the label is also peeled away. Alternatively, the label may reside at a different location and stay intact when the heating pack cover 75 is peeled.

In addition, the heating chemicals 70 may also be air-activated heating chemicals that may initiate reactions generating heat when exposed to air. By removing part or all of the heating pack cover 75, a user may expose the heating chemicals 70 and start the heating process. Such air-activated heating chemicals are known in the arts.

In FIG. 2A, there are two heating packs 60 attached to the container body 10. The two heating packs 60 are positioned on opposite sides of the container body 10, ensuring comprehensive heating of the container body and the substances kept inside. It should be noted that the form or design of the heating pack 60 may be altered according to the particular usage and design of the thermal container 1. For example, the heating pack 60 may be sleeve structure surrounding the side wall 15 of the container body 10.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the interior of the container body is divided into a first compartment 110 and a second compartment 120, separated by a separator 150, wherein the first compartment stores a first substance 115 and the second compartment stores a second substance 125. When the thermal container 1 is a baby formula bottle, the first substance is preferably powdered formula and the second substance is preferably water.

The separator 150 may be made from many kinds of materials as the ones for the container body 10. In one form the separator 150 may be a soft plastic membrane that may be broken by pinching and pulling the connecting points of the separator 150 and the container body 10.

FIG. 2B shows an alternative sectional view of the first preferred embodiment of the thermal container. The components shown in FIG. 2B are very similar to the ones shown in FIG. 2A, except that the heating pack 60 comprises only one package having an inner portion 68 and two patch portions 69 connected by the inner portion. The design in FIG. 2B allows better temperature adjustment because the heating pack 60 is more closely in contact with the substances stored in the container body 10. However, this design may be more difficult to manufacture and more expensive than what is shown in FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3 shows a front view of the first preferred embodiment of the thermal container with an insulation cover 200. The insulation cover 200 is an option structure that may be accompanying the container body 10. The general function of the insulation cover 200 is to provide thermal insulation during and after temperature adjustment. The materials that may be used to make insulation cover 200 are known in the arts. One particular design for the current invention is that the insulation cover takes the form of a pouch structure that is generally elastic and has a top opening encircled by an elastic band 210. When not in use, the insulation cover 200 may be rolled down to the bottom 18 of the container body 10. When the thermal container is getting too hot or too cold, the insulation cover 200 may be rolled up to enclose the container body 10, while the elastic band 210 is positioned closed to the container cap 20 so that the consumption of the liquid inside will not be affected.

FIG. 4A shows a front sectional view of a second preferred embodiment of the thermal container. Shown in FIG. 4A are the thermal container 1 comprising a container body 10 having a bottom 18 and a side wall 15, container cap 20 disposed on the container body 10, a container nipple 30 disposed on the container cap 20 and being secured by the container cap 20 to the container body 10, a thermal control assembly 50 comprising a heating pack 60 having a heating pack cover 75. Also shown in FIG. 4A are the first compartment 110 containing first substance 115, second compartment 120 containing second substance 125, and a separator 150 separating the first compartment 110 and second compartment 120.

FIG. 4B shows a side sectional view of the second preferred embodiment of the thermal container. Essentially the same elements are shown in FIG. 4B, compared to FIG. 4A. In addition, shown in FIG. 4B is the basic structure of the heating pack 60 having heating pack chemical 70 covered by heating pack cover 75. Also shown in FIG. 4B is that the container body 10 having an inner concave 40 and the thermal control assembly 50 is positioned in the inner concave 40 and connected to the container cap 20 by a suspension string 140.

From FIGS. 4A and 4B, it is clear that the thermal control assembly 50 may be positioned differently from what is shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. Here the heating pack 60 is disposed in the inner concave 40 of the container body 10. Such a design allows more effective temperature adjustment because, compared with the embodiments shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the heating pack 60 in FIGS. 4A and 4B has more contact with the container body. When the container body 10 is sufficiently flexible and malleable, manual manipulation of the container body 10 may result in the triggering of the chemical reactions in the heating pack 60 and the temperature adjustment process.

FIGS. 4A and 4B demonstrates one of the many possibilities as to the form, position, size, and design of the thermal assembly 50. Other variations may be adopted according generally to the thermal-control and compartmentalization designs. For example, the current invention may be used for ready made Sangria Mix—the thermal container having isle with fruit in one compartment and juices and alcohol in another; the thermal control assembly may be a long ladle like appendage attached from the cap of the container; and twisting the cap break the plastic separator between the two compartments and trigger a chilling process to provide cold sangria. It should be noted that such variations are limitless and they all fall under the purview of the current invention.

Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of illustration and that numerous changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A thermal container, comprising: a container body suitable for liquid storage and containing a content; anda thermal control assembly attached to the container body, the thermal control assembly being capable of heating or cooling the content of the container body, wherein the container body is made of flexible and malleable materials, allowing deformation of the container body by manual force, triggering the thermal control assembly to heat or cool content of the container body.

3. The thermal container of claim 1, wherein the container is a pouch.

3. The thermal container of claim 1, wherein the container is a bottle.

4. The thermal container of claim 1, wherein the thermal control assembly comprises at least one heating pack.

5. The thermal container of claim 1, wherein the thermal control assembly comprises a chilling package.

6. The thermal container of claim 1, wherein the thermal control assembly is permanently attached to the container body.

7. The thermal container of claim 1, wherein the thermal control assembly is removably attached to the container body.

8. The thermal container of claim 1, wherein the thermal control assembly comprises a heating pack and heating is triggered by squeezing or pinching the heating pack while the heating pack is closely attached the container body.

9. The thermal container of claim 8, wherein the thermal control assembly further comprises attachment structures.

10. The thermal container of claim 8, further comprising at least one temperature indicator.

11. The thermal container of claim 10, wherein there are a plurality of temperature indicators attached to the container body.

12. The thermal container of claim 1, wherein the thermal control assembly comprises a heating pack closely attached to the container body, the heating pack including chemicals, and mixing the chemicals by manually squeezing or pinching the heating pack triggers chemical reactions generating heat.

13. The thermal container of claim 1, wherein the container further comprises a first compartment and a second compartment, the first compartment being used to store a first substance and the second compartment being used to store a second substance, and a separator positioned within the container body separates the first compartment from the second compartment.

14. The thermal container of claim 13, wherein the separator is a plastic membrane that may be broken by shaking the container body.

15. The thermal container of claim 14, wherein the separator may be broken or disengaged by pinching the container body at a position close to where the separator attaches the container body.

16. The thermal container of claim 1, further comprising a pouch-like, elastic insulation cover capable of insulating the container body when the thermal control assembly is triggered, and the insulation cover is rolled up or down to cover or expose the container body.

17. The thermal container of claim 2, further comprising a stabilizing structure attached to a bottom of the container body.

18. A thermal container comprising: a container body made of flexible and mallable materials, thereby allowing deformation by manual force, the container body being divided into a first compartment and a second compartment by a plastic separator, the first compartment containing a first substance and the second compartment containing a second substance, the first compartment further locating above the second compartment, and deformation of the container body by manual force rupturing the separator, thereby causing the first substance and the second substance to get in touch with each other; anda thermal control assembly comprising a heating pack closely attached to the container body, and the heating pack including chemicals, wherein manual squeezing or pinching of the heating pack without removing the heating pack from the container body causes heating of the pack.

19. The thermal container of claim 18, further comprising a plurality of temperature indicators attached to the container body.

20. A baby formula bottle comprising: a container body made of flexible and mallable materials, thereby allowing deformation by manual force, the container body being divided into a first compartment and a second compartment by a plastic separator, the first compartment containing powdered baby formula and the second compartment containing water, the first compartment further locating above the second compartment, and deformation of the container body by manual force rupturing the separator, thereby causing the powdered baby formula and the water to get in touch with each other, thereby forming baby formula milk; anda thermal control assembly comprising a heating pack closely attached to the container body, and the heating pack including chemicals, wherein manual squeezing or pinching of the heating pack without removing the heating pack from the container body causes heating of the pack thereby heating the baby formula milk.