Compartmentalized Heat Transfer Wrap and Method

Abstract

A compaitmentalized heat transfer wrap for absorbing heat from a living body including a moisture-proof, outer envelope being sealed about a periphery thereof to form an outer boundary, the outer envelope being compartmentalized into a plurality of individual sealed pockets wherein each of the sealed pockets is isolated from each of the remaining individual sealed pockets, each of the individual sealed pockets including a formulated cooling medium encapsulated therein, the cooling medium having a combination of components including carboxymethyl cellulose in powder form, water, and a stabilizing additive for absorbing heat generated by a living body in contact with the outer envelope while the cooling medium is employed and functional at ambient temperature.

Claims

1. A compartmentalized heat transfer wrap for absorbing heat from a living body, said heat transfer wrap comprising: a moisture proof, outer envelope being sealed about a periphery thereof forming an outer boundary; said outer envelope being compartmentalized into a plurality of individual sealed pockets wherein each of said sealed pockets is isolated from each of the remaining individual sealed pockets; and each of said individual sealed pockets includes a formulated cooling medium encapsulated therein, said cooling medium including at least a pair of components identified as carboxymethyl cellulose and water for absorbing heat generated by a living body in contact with said outer envelope while said cooling medium being employed and functional at ambient temperature.

2. The heat transfer wrap of claim 1 wherein said outer boundary is pressure heat sealed.

3. The heat transfer wrap of claim 1 wherein each of said individual pockets is isolated from each of the remaining individual pockets by pressure heat seals.

4. The heat transfer wrap of claim 1 wherein said moisture-proof outer envelope is comprised of nylon.

5. The heat transfer wrap of claim 1 wherein an optimum number of said individual sealed pockets comprises eight pockets.

6. The heat transfer wrap of claim 1 wherein said outer envelope is foldable along each of a plurality of pressure heat seals formed between each of said individual pockets for convenient storage.

7. The heat transfer wrap of claim 1 wherein said cooling medium comprises a cooling gel including at least said carboxymethyl cellulose in powder form and water for absorbing heat while at ambient temperature.

8. The heat transfer wrap of claim 1 wherein said individual sealed pockets of said outer envelope are arranged for including a geometric center of gravity for improved weight distribution and handling.

9. The heat transfer wrap of claim 1 further including a flat sleeve enclosure for surrounding said outer envelope, said flat sleeve enclosure providing a sanitary esthetic, comfortable surface.

10. The heat transfer wrap of claim 9 wherein said flat sleeve enclosure further includes a closure means.

11. The heat transfer wrap of claim 10 wherein said closure means includes a hook and loop closure means.

12. A compartmentalized heat transfer wrap for absorbing heat from a living body, said heat transfer wrap comprising: a moisture proof, geometrically-shaped, outer envelope being sealed about a periphery thereof forming an outer boundary; said outer envelope being compartmentalized into a plurality of individual sealed pockets wherein each of said sealed pockets is isolated from each of the remaining individual sealed pockets; and each of said individual sealed pockets includes a formulated cooling medium encapsulated therein, said cooling medium including a combination of components including carboxymethyl cellulose in powder form, water, and a stabilizing additive for absorbing heat generated by a living body in contact with said outer envelope while said cooling medium being employed and functional at ambient temperature.

13. The heat transfer wrap of claim 12 wherein said stabilizing additive is comprised of the combination of three ingredients including: {a} 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol (Bronopol); {b} 5-chlor-2-methyl-3(2H)-(isothiazolone); and {c} 2-methyl-3(2H)-(isothiazolone).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a compartmentalized heat transfer wrap and method of the present invention showing multiple nylon covered quilted pockets with each pocket incorporating a special formulated cooling gel and separated by pressure heat seals;

[0022] FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a single nylon covered quilted pocket containing the formulated cooling gel and showing pressure heat seals for separating adjacent quilted pockets and for sealing an outer boundary, and further showing the cross-sectional line 4-4 for referring to FIG. 4;

[0023] FIG. 3 is a top plan view of four adjacent quilted pockets intersecting at a common point on the surface of the compartmentalized heat transfer wrap, the quilted pockets being separated by heat seals and each containing the formulated cooling gel;

[0024] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the compartmentalized heat transfer wrap of the present invention taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2 showing the interior of one of the plurality of quilted pockets and the formulated cooling gel therein;

[0025] FIG. 5 is a planar illustration of the center of gravity of the geometric arrangement of the plurality of equally-weighted quilted pockets of the compartmentalized heat transfer wrap of FIG. 1; and

[0026] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an optional sleeve for enclosing the compartmentalized heat transfer wrap therein for providing a softer, washable, outer surface more compatible for use with an infant utilizing the present invention and showing an exemplary hook and loop closing means.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0027] The present invention relates to a compartmentalized heat transfer wrap and method 100 as shown in FIGS. 1-5 (hereinafter referred to as the heat transfer wrap 100). The heat transfer wrap 100 is intended for use in facilitating the absorption of heat from a living body, either human or animal. In the description that follows, it will be assumed that the heat transfer wrap 100 is being applied to a human being. The heat transfer wrap 100 can be applied directly to the surface of the human body for dissipating heat therefrom thereby reducing associated fever and inflammation in soft tissue, surgical incision sites, and problems associated with female menopause, breast feeding/nursing babies, mastitis, and lower back lumbar pain problems.

[0028] The heat transfer wrap 100 of the present invention can be preferably provided in the form of a blanket-like article such that the user (not shown) can lay upon or drape over an effected area of the user's body for absorbing heat therefrom. The present invention is ideal for use with toddlers and adults alike and can be utilized to address each of the problems enumerated immediately above. Further, the inventive heat transfer wrap 100 is intended for use at ambient temperature which has been shown during the development and testing phase to be sufficient to lower the body temperature, dissipate heat and reduce inflammation in the body of the user. This significant feature of the present invention enables the heat transfer wrap 100 to be utilized as intended without the requirement of freezing or chilling the wrap 100 prior to use. This advantage distinguishes the present invention over other similar products of the prior art.

[0029] In a preferred embodiment, the present invention is embodied in a compartmentalized heat transfer wrap 100 for absorbing heat from a living body (not shown), that includes a moisture proof, generally geometrically-shaped, outer envelope 116 which is sealed about the periphery thereof to form an outer boundary 106 (see FIG. 1). The sealing means is dependent upon the material used to form the outer envelope 106. In the present invention, the prototype design utilizes nylon to form the outer envelope 106 due to nylon being moisture-proof and having heat transfer characteristics. However, other materials can be used such as, for example, robust flexible plastic. Consequently, the sealing of the outer envelope 116 to form the outer boundary 106 can be a pressure heat seal or other suitable sealing means. The material must be of the type that enables the transfer of heat there through and typically is formed in a geometric shape such as a rectangle, square, circle or other desirable shape. The geometric-shaped heat transfer wrap 100 is intended to have a center of gravity 108 (see FIG. 5) that improves the weight distribution and consequently the handling characteristics thereof. In an exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-6 but in particular FIG. 1, the heat transfer wrap 100 is shown as a rectangular blanket-like article having the dimensions generally in the range of 24 in length, 17 in width, and approximately 0.25 in depth. Another embodiment of the present invention may exhibit the heat transfer wrap 100 in an alternative geometric configuration with different dimensions.

[0030] The moisture-proof, outer envelope 116 of the heat transfer wrap 100 is compartmentalized into a plurality of individual sealed quilted pockets 102. Each of the individual sealed pockets 102 is isolated from each of the remaining sealed pockets 102, typically by suitable pressure heat seals 104 or the equivalent (see FIGS. 1-3). During the design and development phase of the present invention, experimentation disclosed that the heat transfer wrap 100 comprising only a single large quilted pocket 102 resulted in a specially formulated cooling medium or gel 120 encapsulated within the single quilted pocket 102 gravitated to the outer boundary 106. This resulted in a dramatic reduction in the heat transfer rate and efficiency and the heat transfer wrap 100 being weighted on the outer boundary 106 and becoming difficult to handle because of uneven weight distribution. Increasing the number of quilted pockets 102 resulted in a greater cooling efficiency and a more even weight distribution since the increased number of quilted pockets 102 prevented the spreading of the cooling gel 120 to the outer boundary 106 by retaining the cooling gel 120 in each respective pocket 102. During experimentation, it has been determined that the eight quilted pockets 102a-102h {as shown in the planar illustration of FIG. 5 of the exemplary embodiment} provides an efficient design having an adequate number of quilted pockets 102 and a suitable weight distribution for an average sized person.

[0031] Thus, the number of individual sealed pockets 102 in this preferred embodiment of the heat transfer wrap 100 as illustrated in the accompanying drawing Figs. is eight and are distributed in a rectangular arrangement. This number of sealed pockets 102 has been determined to provide a suitable sized blanket-like article and the conveniently positioned center of gravity 108 to improve handling characteristics. The center point identified by the numeral 108 located at the intersection of diagonals 110 and 112 in FIG. 5 locates the center of gravity of the exemplary embodiment of the heat transfer wrap 100. It is further noted that the compartmentalized heat transfer wrap 100 can be custom designed as desired and that the weight distribution can be manipulated for any specific use. Thus, other arrangements of sealed pockets 102 in other geometric patterns may also be effective. Notwithstanding the geometric shape of the heat transfer wrap 100 and the number of individual quilted pockets 102 formed therein, the outer envelope 116 may be conveniently folded along each of the pressure heat seals 104 for convenient storage.

[0032] Let us now turn our attention to the specially formulated cooling medium or gel 120 and discuss the components thereof. Each of the individual sealed pockets 102 includes the specially formulated cooling medium or gel 120 encapsulated therein for absorbing heat generated by the living body (not shown) that is in contact with the outer envelope 116 of the heat transfer wrap 100. Thus, the function of the formulated cooling gel 120 is to absorb the heat generated by the living body as illustrated in FIG. 4. A cross-sectional view of the quilted sealed pocket 102h taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2 is shown in FIG. 4. The quilted sealed pocket 102h shows the outer envelope 116 closed on both ends by the pressure heat seal 104 and the outer boundary seal 106. The formulated cooling gel 120 is shown encapsulated within the outer envelope 116 in FIG. 4. The specially formulated cooling gel 120 includes a combination of components blended to absorb heat including a carboxymethyl cellulose in powder form, water, and a stabilizing additive. This combination of components physically exists as a cooling gel 120 and is designed to functionally absorb heat when employed at ambient temperature, e.g., the cooling gel 120 is not required to be frozen or cooled prior to use. This design feature provides a significant advance over the cooling devices known in the prior art.

[0033] The formulation of the cooling gel 120 will now be discussed. The primary components include carboxymethyl cellulose in powder form, water, and a stabilizing additive. The formulated percent of each of the primary components included in a batch of the cooling gel 120 is 4% of carboxymethyl cellulose in powder form, 95.85% water by volume, and 0.15% specific additives as a stabilizing component to maintain freshness. In some cases, alcohol is added to the formulation of the cooling gel 120 for suppressing the growth of mold. The 0.15% of specific additives are comprised of the combination of three ingredients including: {a} 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol (Bronopol); {b} 5-chlor-2-methyl-3(2H)-(isothiazolone); and {c} 2-methyl-3(2H)-(isothiazolone). Once formulated, the consistency of the cooling gel 120 is semi-solid or somewhat fluid. It does not actually flow but pressure must be applied to the quilted sealed pocket 120 to remove the cooling gel 120. The source of the combination of components that form the specially formulated cooling gel 120 is Anhui Komat Ice Packing Company Ltd., 7.sup.th North Road, Economic and Technical Area, Luan, Anhui, China. The formulation of the cooling gel 120 is designed to be utilized in the heat transfer wrap 100 while at ambient temperature, e.g., the cooling gel 120 located within the sealed pockets 102 does not require freezing or cooling prior to use. This technical advance in the formulation of the cooling gel 120 in combination with the First Law of Thermodynamics {teaching that heat flows from a warmer body to a cooler body} enables the cooling gel 120 to absorb and then dissipate the heat generated by the living body in contact with the outer envelope 116. For example, a cooling gel 120 at an ambient temperature of 78 degrees Fahrenheit will adequately absorb and lower the temperature in a living body that has a measured temperature of 103 degrees Fahrenheit. The 0.15% of specific additives can be harmful if swallowed and thus care should be exercised when coming in contact with the cooling gel 120.

[0034] The heat transfer wrap 100 including the quilted sealed pocket 102 design with the specially formulated cooling gel 120 encapsulated therein has been shown to dramatically increase the heat transfer rate for dissipating the heat from the surface being cooled. Through experimentation, it has also been determined that increasing the number of quilted sealed pockets 102 increases the heat dissipation efficiency of the heat transfer wrap 100. Further, the greater number of quilted pockets 102 provides more manageable weight distribution and improved handling characteristics of the heat transfer wrap 100. This conclusion, of course, reaches the point of diminishing returns as the number of quilted sealed pockets 102 becomes excessive because of {a} manufacturing challenges (pressure heat sealing), and {b} economical cost issues.

[0035] An optional feature of the present invention includes a flat sleeve enclosure 130 for surrounding the outer envelope 116 of the heat transfer wrap 100. The flat sleeve enclosure 130 has dimensions somewhat larger than that of the present invention and surrounds the outer envelope 116 similar to how a mattress cover surrounds a sleeping mattress. Thus, the flat sleeve enclosure 130 will cover the nylon outer envelope 116 so that the outer boundary 106 thereof will fit flatly into the flat sleeve enclosure 130. A closure means such as a hook and loop fastener having a hook strip 132 and a loop strip 134 enables the flat sleeve enclosure 130 to totally enclose the outer envelope 116 by moving the hook strip 132 in the direction shown by numeral 136 in FIG. 6 to mate with the loop strip 134. Opening the flat sleeve enclosure 130 is effected by moving the hook strip 132 in the direction opposite to numeral 136. The outer envelope 116 as presented herein is fashioned from nylon but the flat sleeve envelope 130 can provide a sanitary comfortable surface comprised of a cotton or fleece-like material to change the texture and appearance thereof. Further, the flat sleeve envelope 130 may be laundered regularly when used in conjunction with small children and infants. Further, the flat sleeve envelope 130 can include esthetics, logos, images or designs imprinted thereon, and recognizable tactile characteristics, comfort, and weighted blanket sensory feel, as well as a sanitary guard that are suitable for young children.

[0036] An embodiment of the present invention is generally directed to a compartmentalized heat transfer wrap 100 for absorbing heat from a living body including a moisture-proof, geometrically-shaped, outer envelope 116 being sealed about a periphery thereof to form an outer boundary 106. The outer envelope 116 is compartmentalized into a plurality of individual sealed pockets 102 wherein each of the sealed pockets 102 is isolated from each of the remaining individual sealed pockets 102. Further, each of the individual sealed pockets 102 includes a formulated cooling gel 120 encapsulated therein, the cooling gel 120 having a combination of components including carboxymethyl cellulose in powder form, water, and a stabilizing additive for absorbing heat generated by the living body in contact with the outer envelope 116 while the cooling gel 120 is employed and functional at ambient temperature, e.g., the cooling gel 120 does not need to be frozen or cooled prior to use.

[0037] Although the construction of the inventive compartmentalized heat transfer wrap 100 is not complicated, it has many practical uses in the domestic environment and advantages over similar prior art devices. For example, it is useful in the following ways: {a} reducing the body temperature of a person suffering with a fever; {b} reducing the effects of menopause in females; {c} reducing inflammation in soft tissue and surgical incisions; {d} direct application to the breasts of nursing mothers suffering from mastitis; and {e} for pain relief and support in the lumbar section of the lower back, to name just a few. Further, each of these uses is accomplished by {f} using the heat transfer wrap 100 with the formulated cooling gel 120 at ambient (room) temperature which is a significant feature of the present invention.

[0038] While the present invention is described herein with reference to illustrative embodiments for particular applications, it should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the teachings provided herein will recognize additional modifications, applications and embodiments within the scope thereof and additional fields in which the present invention would be of significant utility such as, for example, the medical industry. It is therefore intended by the appended claims to cover any and all such modifications, applications and embodiments within the scope of the present invention. Accordingly,