Collapsible insulated container
View Patent ↗A collapsible insulated container has a base wall and a peripheral wall with an open end defining an enclosure. The peripheral wall has at least two layers and is divided into elongate pockets between the layers, with foldable crease lines between adjacent pockets. Each pocket contains a flexible-walled, insulating gel pack which substantially fills the pocket. The crease lines may be defined by stitching securing the outer and inner layers of the container together. The gel packs may be surrounded by matting, foam or mesh material which is sewn into the lines of stitching, or may have integral peripheral rims sewn into the lines of stitching. The container is foldable between an erect, open condition and a storage condition in which it is folded along the crease lines into a substantially flattened package.
1. A collapsible insulated container, comprising:
a base wall; and
a peripheral wall extending from the base wall to define a cavity having an open end, such that the open end is opposite the base wall with respect to a first axis of the peripheral wall in an unfolded configuration;
wherein the peripheral wall comprises at least a front wall and a rear wall;
wherein each of the front wall and the rear wall comprises
an outer layer,
an inner layer between the outer layer and the cavity,
at least one crease, at which the inner layer and the outer layer are joined, that extends orthogonal to the first axis of the peripheral wall from one side of the respective wall to an opposite side of the respective wall,
a first rectangular gel pack between the inner layer and the outer layer on a side of the at least one crease that is closer to the open end than to the base wall, wherein the first rectangular gel pack longitudinally extends parallel to the at least one crease from one side of the respective wall to an opposite side of the respective wall, and
a second rectangular gel pack between the inner layer and the outer layer on an opposite side of the at least one crease that is closer to the base wall than to the open end, wherein the second rectangular gel pack longitudinally extends parallel to the at least one crease from the one side of the respective wall to the opposite side of the respective wall; and
wherein the peripheral wall folds along the at least one crease on both the front wall and the rear wall, to place the open end closer to the base wall in a folded configuration than in the unfolded configuration, while the first rectangular gel pack and the second rectangular gel pack remain between the inner layer and the outer layer of the front wall and the rear wall.
2. The container of claim 1 , further comprising a fastener strap secured to the container at one end, a first fastener device on the fastener strap and a second, mating fastener device on the outer layer of one of the walls, the fastener strap being configured to extend around at least part of the container in the folded configuration with the first fastener device releasably attached to the second fastener device, whereby the container is held in the folded configuration.
3. The container of claim 2 , wherein the base wall and peripheral wall define a storage area, the container further comprising a closure flap extending from the peripheral wall which is movable between an open position and a closed position covering the open end of the container, the fastener strap extending from the closure flap, the closure flap and fastener strap extending about at least part of the periphery of the container in the folded configuration to releasably maintain the container in the folded configuration.
4. The container of claim 3 , further comprising side walls that contain no gel packs.
5. The container of claim 1 , wherein the container is foldable into the folded configuration by folding the base wall to position at least a portion of the inner layer of the front wall adjacent at least a portion of the inner layer of the rear wall and position at least a portion of the inner layer of the base wall against at least a portion of the inner layer of the front wall and folding at least a portion of the front wall and at least a portion of the rear wall over at least a portion of the base wall.
6. The container of claim 5 , further comprising:
a fastener strap secured to the container and having a first fastener device; and
a second fastener device secured to the peripheral wall,
wherein the fastener strap is configured to extend around at least a portion of the container in the folded configuration to position the first fastener device to releasably attach to the second fastener device, whereby the container is held in the folded configuration by the attachment of the first fastener device to the second fastener device.
7. The container of claim 6 , wherein the base wall and peripheral wall define a storage area, the container further comprising a closure flap extending from the peripheral wall which is movable between an open position and a closed position covering the open end of the container, the fastener strap extending from the closure flap, the closure flap and fastener strap extending around at least a portion of the container in the folded configuration to position the first fastener device to releasably attach to the second fastener device, whereby the container is held in the folded configuration by the attachment of the first fastener device to the second fastener device.
8. The container of claim 1 , wherein each of the front wall and the rear wall further comprise one or more lines of stitching extending across the respective wall to define at least two pockets between the inner layer and the outer layer of the respective wall, wherein the first rectangular gel pack and the second rectangular gel pack are located in different ones of the at least two pockets.