Portable cold pack case for carrying medicine and medical accessories

Abstract

A portable cold pack case for carrying temperature sensitive medicines that are required to be refrigerated and for carrying related medical accessories for use in conjunction with these medicines. The case includes a clamshell housing having a fabric cover and including a pair side faces and a binder. The side faces are connected to the binder and separately hinged along the opposing side edges of the binder. A zipper extends around the edges of the side faces for defining and enclosing an interior space for the case within the housing. One or more sheets of refreezable refrigerant cubes that are encapsulated in clear plastic are mounted inside of the case. A removable panel including a pocket and straps for securing medical articles is releaseably attached to one of the inside surfaces of the case. An inner layer of thermal insulation having a flap of material formed into an insulating wall extends along and wraps around the interior periphery of the case. The refrigerant cubes on the ice sheets are encapsulated in a transparent material and are visible when said case is open to provide a pleasing appearance.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to portable cold pack cases for conveniently carrying temperature sensitive medicines and the like in a refrigerated state along with the accessories required to properly use such articles.[0002]Many medications must be maintained at a certain temperature or within a certain temperature range. If the temperatures of these medications are not maintained and controlled their effectiveness may be diminished or they may even change sufficiently so as to pose a health risk. Medications whose temperature must be maintained include insulin, and certain antibiotics, allergy serums, vaccines, benzodiazepines, and others. In particular, insulin, which must be administered daily or several times per day to diabetics, must be maintained at a temperature lower than about 86 degrees Fahrenheit; and if the temperature of insulin is allowed to exceed 86 degrees Fahrenheit its use can become unsafe.[0003]Because of the need to have these...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011]It is can object of the present invention to provide an improved portable cold pack case for carrying medicines and medical accessories that is compact, convenient and easy to use.

[0012]It is another object of the present invention to provide a cold pack case that has a pleasing visual appearance featuring visible refrigerant cubes when the interior of the case is open to view.

[0013]It is further object of the present invention to provide a cold pack case that allows the medicine and medical articles to be stored on a panel that can be removed from the case and used outside the case or transferred to a different freshly frozen case.

[0014]It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a cold pack case that has a simple design including a thermal insulation layer that wraps around the interior space of the case.

Problems solved by technology

If the temperatures of these medications are not maintained and controlled their effectiveness may be diminished or they may even change sufficiently so as to pose a health risk.

In particular, insulin, which must be administered daily or several times per day to diabetics, must be maintained at a temperature lower than about 86 degrees Fahrenheit; and if the temperature of insulin is allowed to exceed 86 degrees Fahrenheit its use can become unsafe.

However, many have involved placing special cooling packages in conventional coolers which are bulky and awkward to carry.

Carrying cases have also been available that use active cooling elements such as Peltier cooling, however, these devices are generally complex and expensive and usually need to be plugged into an electrical outlet in order to maintain temperature.

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