Cooling system with reusable cooling modules

Abstract

A cooler container is provided with hollow wall cavities to allow for placement of cooling material in the form of modules adapted for insertion into the cavities. The interior of the cooler includes perforated walls which allow for air flow between the cooling material and an interior cavity. Optionally, the cooling system includes a fan on the inside of a lid to increase air flow around the modules so as to provide more uniform air temperature within the container.

Description

SUBJECT OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to storage containers, and more specifically, to a system that utilizes reusable cooling modules to same space, reduce the cast of supplying a cooling medium, and for convenient and efficient temperature control in a portable cooling container.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Portable cooling containers are used to store food items, biological materials, and other items which require refrigerated transport. Such containers usually employ the intrinsic temperature in conjunction with insulated container walls to control the internal temperature. Some container manufacturers suggest placement of ice or other cooling materials within the cooler or between the stored items. Other containers provide a central compartment for retaining a cooling pack, which helps control the internal temperature. However, such cooling pack placement requires interior cavity space as well as interrupts the continuous interior space, making placeme...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0003]Accordingly, the present invention provides a cooling container which accommodates various numbers of cooling modules to provide temperature modulation, without interrupting the internal container space. The present invention also provides for a large cooling container cavity space. In one embodiment, the container includes a plurality of wall cavities for receiving cooling modules. The wall cavities are provided in spaces between internal and exterior faces of the container walls. This frees up the entire interior cavity of the container for storage. Also, by varying the number of cooling modules placed within the wall cavities, a user is able to control the temperature modulation affecting the container interior. The cooling modules can be manufactured with a reusable cooling material for repeated use. Although the invention is described herein as relating to cooling, it is equally applicable to warming.

Problems solved by technology

However, such cooling pack placement requires interior cavity space as well as interrupts the continuous interior space, making placement of large items cumbersome or even impossible.

Additionally, such existing cooling containers do not allow for convenient temperature modulation by increasing or decreasing the number of cooling packs.

Moreover, the use of ice in the cavity not only decreases space, it adds cost as the ice must be replaced after each use.

Images