Food container with forced moisture removal

Abstract

A method, a food container, and a lid for a food container that actively removes moisture in the food container without changing the food temperature inside the container in a meaningful way are disclosed herein. The removal of moisture is achieved by introducing a cold spot inside the food container that forces condensation of moisture near the cold spot. The condensed moisture is then captured by an absorbent element placed below, and preferably adjacent to, the cold spot and between the cold spot and the stored food. The cold spot is preferably achieved by a properly chosen frozen substance such as an ice cube or a frozen gel packet.

Claims

1. A method for actively removing moisture from a food container, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing: (i) the food container having a lid, a base coupled to the lid, and an interior space formed between the lid and the base, (ii) a cold substance holder having an interior bottom portion and an exterior bottom portion, and (iii) a moisture absorbent element coupled to the exterior bottom portion of the cold substance holder; (b) placing a frozen element onto the interior bottom portion of the cold substance holder; (c) placing the cold substance holder in the interior space of the food container and coupling the cold substance holder to the food container with the exterior bottom portion oriented toward the base of the food container; (d) placing food inside the food container; and (e) closing the food container, wherein the frozen element comprises a volume predetermined based on a volume of the interior space of the food container in order to maintain a temperature in the interior space.

2. The method in claim 1, wherein the lid of the food container further comprises a drip member coupled to the moisture absorbent element, located between the moisture absorbent element and the food inside the food container.

3. The method in claim 2, wherein the drip member is a tray.

4. The method in claim 2, wherein the drip member is a water resistant and vapor permeable film.

5. The method in claim 1, wherein the lid of the food container further comprises an opening for accommodating the cold substance holder while exposing the exterior bottom portion of the cold substance holder to the interior space of the food container.

6. The method in claim 1, wherein the lid of the food container further comprises a seal coupled to the lid.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 shows a cross sectional view of an embodiment.

(2) FIG. 2 shows a cross sectional view of an alternate embodiment.

(3) FIG. 3A shows a top view of another embodiment, with the lid closed.

(4) FIG. 3B shows a top view of the embodiment in FIG. 3A, with the lid open.

(5) FIG. 3C shows a cross sectional view of the embodiment in FIG. 3A.

(6) FIG. 4 shows a top view of another embodiment, with its lid open.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

(7) The preferred embodiments include a food container, a removable lid for a food container, and a method for removing moisture in the food container by forced condensation of the moisture and are illustrated in FIGS. 1-4. In FIG. 1, the preferred embodiment is a food box 100 with a base 110 and a lid 120. The base 110 may contain food, hot or cold. The lid 120 may comprise a frozen element 121, a compartment 122 for containing the frozen element 121, an absorbent material 123 placed below the frozen element 121 and the compartment 122, and a drip tray 124. The lid 120 and base 110 are coupled together to close the food box 100. Preferably, the food box 110 may have a seal (not shown) between the lid 120 and the base 110 to achieve a better insulation and moisture control.

(8) The frozen element 121 of the embodiment 100 in FIG. 1 may be any proper cold substance such as an ice cube (frozen water) or a frozen gel packet that may induce condensation of vapor moisture. A suitable compartment for containing the frozen element may comprise a depressed area 122 on the lid 120 as shown in FIG. 1, with or without its own cover for closing the compartment. Alternatively, the compartment may be located above the rest of the lid. Either way, the bottom portion of the compartment may have at least some heat transfer capability for facilitating heat exchange between the frozen element and the vapor inside the food container.

(9) In addition, the embodiment 100 in FIG. 1 further comprises an absorbent material 123 place inside the food container 100 and below, preferably very close to, the bottom portion of the compartment 122. The absorbent material 123 may be made of any suitable materials for capturing and isolating the condensed moisture, such as paper towel as adopted in this embodiment. The absorbent material 123 in FIG. 1 is supported by a drip tray 124, but it may alternatively be coupled to the interior side of the lid by any suitable means, such as adhesives and tapes, without contacting the tray. The drip tray 124 may be replaced by any drip member placed between the absorbent material and the stored food, such as a plastic film or a band-aid. An alternate embodiment may not have a drip tray or anything alike.

(10) An alternate embodiment 200 as shown in FIG. 2 is substantially similar to the previous embodiment 100. In this embodiment 200, the cold substance holder 222 is an insert of the lid 220 configured to hold a cold substance 221 and made of a thermal-conductive material. Since the cold substance holder 223 is separate from the cover 225, the cover 225 and the base 210 may be made of non-thermal-conductive materials so that the food inside is somewhat thermally insulated. In addition, the drip member 224, a drip tray, of this embodiment 200 has a raised edge configured to stop the moisture absorbent element 223 and released condensate, if any, from moving out of the tray.

(11) FIGS. 3A-3C show another embodiment 300. In this embodiment, the food container 300 is substantially made of Styrofoam. A cold substance holder 322, a plastic sauce cup in this embodiment, is placed in a hole cut from the lid 320 and affixed to the lid 320. Right below the cold substance holder 322, a piece of paper towel 323, as an absorbent material, is coupled to a bottom of the cold substance holder 322 and the interior surface of the lid 320 by a band-aid-like, water resistant, and vapor permeable film 325, working as a drip member of the embodiment, and coupled to the moisture absorbent material 323. Like the embodiment 100, this food box 300 preferably has a seal 326 between the lid 320 and the base 310 (attached to the lid 320 in this embodiment 300) to achieve a better insulation and moisture control.

(12) In an alternate embodiment, the food container is identical to the embodiment 300 except that the paper towel 323 is coupled to the lid 320 by duct tapes on four sides without any drip member. In an experiment with this alternate embodiment, hot food, including a crispy toast, 2 eggs, and a small container with boiling water, was placed inside the embodiment and an ordinary Styrofoam box as a control food container, respectively. After that, the lids were closed and an ice cube slightly larger than a standard ice cube was placed in the sauce cup of the embodiment, which works as the cold substance holder. A short period later, the toast in the control food container became soggy while the toast in the embodiment was still crispy and hot. Therefore, the embodiment shows that the invention works as planned.

(13) Another preferred embodiment is shown in FIG. 4. In this embodiment 400, the food container 400 comprises a base 410, a lid 420 coupled to the base 410, and a cold-substance holding assembly 430 removably coupled to the base 410. The cold substance holding assembly 430 comprises a receptacle 431 configured to hold a cold substance 500, a stand 432 coupled to and configured to elevate the receptacle 431, a moisture absorbent element 433 coupled to a bottom of the receptacle 431, and a drip member 434 coupled to and placed beneath the moisture absorbent element 433. The receptacle 431 in this embodiment 400 may or may not have a cover. In another embodiment where the bottom of the receptacle has little heat transfer capability, the forced condensation may occur mostly above the receptacle, and therefore, the cold substance holding assembly may not include a moisture absorbent element or a drip member.

(14) While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those ordinarily skilled in the art without departing from the score and spirit disclosed herein.