Portable Thermal Treatment and Storage Units for Containing Readily Accessible Food or Beverage Items and Methods for Thermally Treating Food or Beverage Items

Abstract

A portable thermal treatment and storage unit includes a housing with a thermal treatment chamber, and ports that provide a flow path between the chamber and an environment surrounding the unit to facilitate a flow of air into the housing, through the chamber, and out of the housing. The unit is configured to selectively open and close at least one port to limit or prevent the flow of air into the housing and through the chamber such that, when the at least one port is opened, the unit facilitates heat transfer between the flowing air and the food or beverage items supported by the support member so as to change the temperature of the food or beverage items. When the at least one port is closed, the unit insulates the food or beverage items to maintain the food or beverage items within a selected temperature range for a selected time period.

1 . A portable thermal treatment and storage unit comprising: 
 a housing including a thermal treatment chamber; and    a plurality of ports disposed on the unit, the ports providing a flow path between the chamber and an environment surrounding the unit to facilitate a flow of air into the housing, through the chamber, and out of the housing;    wherein the unit is configured to selectively open and close at least one port to limit or prevent the flow of air into the housing and through the chamber such that, when the at least one port is opened, the unit facilitates heat transfer between the flowing air and the food or beverage items supported by the support member so as to change the temperature of the food or beverage items and, when the at least one port is closed, the unit insulates the food or beverage items to maintain the food or beverage items within a selected temperature range for a selected time period.    
   
   
       2 . The unit of  claim 1 , further comprising a section that is movable away from a first side of the housing to close at least one port disposed on a second side of the housing.  
   
   
       3 . The unit of  claim 2 , wherein the section comprises at least a first flap that is pivotally movable away from the first side of the housing toward the second side of the housing and engages with the second side of the housing to close the at least one port disposed on the second side of the housing.  
   
   
       4 . The unit of  claim 3 , further comprising at least a second flap that partially underlies the first flap and is pivotally movable away from the first side of the housing to open the housing at the first side and facilitate removal of food or beverage items from the housing.  
   
   
       5 . The unit of  claim 4 , wherein at least one port is disposed on the second flap at a location of the second flap that does not underlie the first flap.  
   
   
       6 . The unit of  claim 5 , wherein the section comprises a plurality of first flaps that are pivotally movable away from an upper side of the housing toward a lower side of the housing to engage with side walls of the housing so as to close ports disposed on the housing side walls.  
   
   
       7 . The unit of  claim 6 , wherein the unit includes a plurality of second flaps that partially underlie the first flaps and are pivotally movable away from the upper side of the housing to open the housing at the upper side and facilitate removal of food or beverage items from the housing.  
   
   
       8 . The unit of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one divider disposed within the thermal treatment chamber, wherein the at least one divider facilitates separation of the chamber into a plurality of sub-chambers.  
   
   
       9 . The unit of  claim 8 , wherein each sub-chamber corresponds with at least one port disposed on a first side of the housing and at least one port disposed on a second side of the housing.  
   
   
       10 . The unit of  claim 8 , wherein each port corresponds with a single sub-chamber, and each sub-chamber corresponds with at least two ports.  
   
   
       11 . The unit of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 a plurality of cups configured to be received and retained within the thermal treatment chamber, wherein each of the cups includes a food or beverage item disposed within the cups and a removable lid that encloses an opening in the cup, and the food or beverage item fills a selected portion of the cup while leaving an air gap between an upper portion of the food or beverage item disposed within the cup and an underside of the lid connected with the cup, the air gap having a thickness of between about 0.25 inch and about 0.5 inch.    
   
   
       12 . The unit of  claim 11 , wherein the food or beverage item disposed within the cups comprises at least one of a slush beverage product and a dairy product.  
   
   
       13 . The unit of  claim 11 , wherein the food or beverage item disposed within the cups comprises a slush beverage product including at least one fruit juice and at least one of a nucleating agent, pectin, carrageenan, cellulose gum, cellulose gel, xantham gum, locust bean gum and guar gum.  
   
   
       14 . The unit of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 an insulation member that is configured to be inserted within the thermal treatment chamber so as to surround portions of and thermally insulate food or beverage items disposed within the thermal treatment unit while permitting removal of individual food or beverage items from the unit.    
   
   
       15 . A portable thermal treatment and storage unit comprising: 
 a housing including a thermal treatment chamber; and    a means for selectively opening and closing an airflow path between the chamber and an environment surrounding the unit, wherein opening of the flow path facilitates a flow of air into the housing, through the chamber, and out of the housing and a heat transfer between flowing air and the food or beverage items suspended within the chamber so as to change the temperature of the food or beverage items suspended within the chamber;    wherein the unit is suitably insulated such that, upon closing the airflow path after the food or beverage items are thermally treated to change the temperature of the food or beverage items, the unit maintains the food or beverage items within a selected temperature range for a selected time period.    
   
   
       16 . A method of thermally treating food or beverage items, the method comprising: 
 loading frozen food or beverage items in a unit such that each food or beverage item is disposed within a chamber of the unit;    thermally treating the frozen food or beverage items by facilitating a flow of air from an environment surrounding the unit through the unit chamber, wherein the air is at a higher temperature than the frozen food or beverage items such that the frozen food or beverage items are warmed and at least partially thawed over a selected warming time period to form partially frozen food or beverage items at a selected temperature range that is higher than the temperature of the frozen food or beverage items; and    upon achieving the selected temperature range for the partially frozen food or beverage items, limiting or preventing the flow of air through the unit chamber so as to maintain the partially frozen food or beverage items within the selected temperature range for a selected storage time period.    
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the partially frozen food or beverage items comprise at least one of a slush beverage product and a dairy product.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the partially frozen food or beverage items comprise a slush beverage product including at least one fruit juice and at least one of a nucleating agent, pectin, carrageenan, cellulose gum, cellulose gel, xantham gum, locust bean gum and guar gum.  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the frozen food or beverage items have a temperature within the range of about 10° F. to about −40° F.  
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the air flowing from the environment surrounding the unit is at a temperature within a range of about 68° F. to about 90° F.  
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the warming time period is at least about 1 hour.  
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the warming time period is no greater than about 4 hours.  
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the food or beverage items are disposed within a plurality of cups that are loaded within the unit such that each cup is disposed within the chamber, each cup includes a removable lid that encloses an opening in the cup, and the food or beverage item fills a selected portion of the cup while leaving an air gap between an upper portion of the food or beverage item disposed within the cup and an underside of the lid connected with the cup, the air gap having a thickness of between about 0.25 inch and about 0.5 inch.  
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the unit comprises at least one first port disposed on the unit and at least one second port disposed on the unit, the ports facilitating flow of air through the unit, the unit further comprises a first flap that is pivotally movable on the unit, and the limiting or preventing of the flow of air through the unit chamber comprises: 
 moving the first flap away from a first side of the unit toward a second side of the unit to engage with and close the at least one second port disposed on the unit.    
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the at least one first port is disposed on a second flap of the unit, the second flap being pivotally movable on the unit and being partially covered by the first flap prior to the first flap being moved away from the first side of the unit, and the method further comprises: 
 moving the second flap away from the first side of the unit to facilitate exposure and removal of food and beverage items from the unit chamber.    
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 25 , further comprising: 
 removing the second flap from the unit.    
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising: 
 inserting an insulation member into the unit chamber after thermally treating the frozen food or beverage items by facilitating airflow through the unit chamber, wherein the insulation member surrounds portions of and thermally insulates food or beverage items disposed within the unit chamber while permitting removal of individual food or beverage items from the unit.    
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the unit further comprises a divider disposed within the unit chamber, and the divider separates the unit chamber into a plurality of sub-chambers.