Insulated water-tight container
a container and water tight technology, applied in the field of insulated containers, can solve the problems of not being water tight, not being able to meet the needs of water tightness, and the type of container requiring substantial floor space and volum
Inactive Publication Date: 2009-12-24
CARDINALE SALVATORE
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AI Technical Summary
Benefits of technology
The solution provides a cost-effective, space-efficient, and environmentally friendly insulated container that maintains controlled temperatures, is easy to assemble and use, and can handle fluids, while reducing material usage and waste.
Problems solved by technology
While these containers offer advantageous high thermal resistance, cutting and gluing pieces of foam to construct the finished container requires substantial assembly time, with the result that containers formed in this way are expensive to assemble, and are not water tight.
As a result, this type of container requires substantial floor space and volume to store and transport prior to, during, and after use.
Moreover, expanded polystyrene is generally considered to have a high impact on the environment as undesirable byproducts are released upon its manufacture and disposal.
In addition, polystyrene decomposes slowly, and, due to its airy and bulky nature, it occupies a large volume in land-fill disposal sites.
While this type of container is well suited to some applications, and has distinct advantages over other types of insulated containers, the containers of this type appearing in prior art, with the exception of one disclosed in a prior patent to this inventor, do not allow for easy assembly by a user, with resulting savings in time and costs.
Nor, generally, are such containers in the prior art water-tight for retention of fluids, such as runoff from melting ice, associated with the products shipped.
However, such apparatus and methods do not exhibit a knock-down, hard-shell, exterior, and a pre-located and secured, interior pouch, thereby simultaneously also exhibiting water-tight, thermally-insulative, and shock-absorbing properties.
However, cardboard alone is not suitable in those applications in which temperature should be maintained within the container, and it is not suitable in those applications where the contents of the container is a fluid, such as water, or where fluid is important to preserving the contents.
Thus, good insulative properties are achieved by containers utilizing preformed foam, however preformed foam does not allow compact storage, while foam sheets require expensive assembly and cannot achieve water-tightness.
In the alternative, cardboard with flexible plastic bubble sheets may be easy to manufacture, however most such arrangements are not water-tight, or are time consuming for a user to assemble if stored and shipped in compact, “knock down” form.
In addition, the construction of such arrangements are somewhat expensive because multiple sheets are required.
While the devices disclosed in prior patents fulfill their respective objectives, prior patents and inventions do not describe or suggest an insulated, water-tight shipping container, easy and inexpensive to manufacture, compact in storage and shipment, and quickly reformed by a user to produce the final container having the desirable characteristics mentioned herein.
Method used
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[0091]Referring initially to FIG. 1, a flexible plastic layer 5 having at least one layer of air bubbles entrapped therein laminated to a layer of metalized polyester or foil (sometimes commonly known as “bubble wrap”) is shown. The layer 5 has edges 11 at each end, edges 12 along each side of the layer.
[0092]In FIG. 2, the flexible plastic layer 5 of FIG. 1 is shown folded midway along fold line 13, end edges 11 have been matched with each other, and side edges 12 have been matched with themselves. In such position, side edges 12 are sealed along their length, generally creating a seal line 14. Upon sealing, the layer 5 forms a pouch or pocket 10 with an opening 15, two sealed side edges 12, and a fold of continuous material at the central fold line 13. In FIG. 2, the pouch of flexible plastic is may also be cut at its corners 16 near the central fold line 13 to reduce bulk of the pouch 10 once it is positioned within the rigid container sidewalls of the container after expansion. ...
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An insulated container for shipping, transporting, or storing warm or cold items is disclosed, useful for maintaining temperature of items stored or shipped within the container, the container assembly consisting of at least one layer of rigid or semi-rigid material, and at least one layer of flexible, thermally insulating, water-resistant material, in the form of a pouch, which pouch is secured to the rigid material at areas which allow easy reconfiguration of the container to form a finished container having desirable insulating and water-resistant characteristics.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10 / 191,671, and application Ser. No. 11 / 514,509, from which applicant claims priority.TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to an insulated container for shipping, transporting, or storing warm or cold items. More particularly, the present invention relates to a new thermally insulated container assembly, which assembly is water-tight and thermally protective of its contents, as well as insulated, so that container contents may be maintained at constant temperature, while fluids or solids associated with the contents, if any, may be retained within the container during storage or shipment. The container assembly utilizes a layer of rigid or semi-rigid material, and at least one layer of flexible, thermally insulating, reflective, water-tight material, in the form of a pouch or pocket, fastened to the rigid material in such fashion as to allow easy and...
Claims
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IPC IPC(8): B65D81/38B65D25/14B65D5/02B65D5/10B65D5/36B65D5/60
CPCB65D5/0227B65D5/10B65D81/3823B65D5/606B65D5/3628
InventorCARDINALE, SALVATORE
OwnerCARDINALE SALVATORE