HinesLab
Emergency Water Packet
Patented
Manufacturing Licenses Available
This is an emergency water packet which can provide chilled water to soldiers, fire fighters, athletes, hikers, cyclists, campers, scouts, the Red Cross, families on trips, and commuters stuck in traffic. Unlike other water packets, the HinesLab emergency water packet uses evaporative cooling to chill the water before opening. The hotter and dryer the climate, the more effective the cooling.
The emergency water packet is a sanitary inner packet inside a water-proof outer packet that serves as a handle. The outer packet is opened by peeling back the corner tabs to let the inner packet drop to the end of a connecting string. The inner packet which now hangs from the string has an absorbent outer surface which is slightly moist.
The inner packet:
The cross section shows the potable water contained in a water-tight pouch. The outer surface of this inner packet is water absorbent so that when exposed to the open air, evaporation from the outer coating causes cooling of the potable water contained inside. The hotter and dryer the climate, the more effective the evaporative cooling.
The inner packet should be spun about 20 times, to evaporate the surface moisture.
Once the moisture on the surface of the inner packet has evaporated, the packet can be torn open for drinking.
Construction of the inner packet:
Water packets are made using continuous material handling for high volume production. Water-proof heat-sealable plastic film (ex.: 3M Scotchpak™ HB200M polyester) is laminated to pressure-sensitive adhesive-backed water-absorbent fabric tape (ex.: 3M #1776) which can be pre-printed with product name and instructions.
After lamination through rollers, the material is then doubled over before going through heat-sealing rollers to form a pouch that is water tight on the bottom and sides. The pouch is then filled with drinkable water before being sealed at the top, trapping one end of the string. The inner packet is then separated and moistened (in operations that follow those shown in the drawing above).
Construction of the outer packet:
The inner packet from the diagram above, with its attached string, is then sealed in an outer pouch made of the same water-proof film (3M Scotchpak™ HB200M polyester) which has been pre-printed with product graphics. In this sealing operation, the free end of the string is trapped in one edge of the outer packet which will serve as a handle when spinning the inner packet to cool the potable water.
Hines' original lab notebook entry for this invention.
This is a technology announcement and license offer. This is not a product for sale to end users. The Emergency Water Packet is patented and is currently available for license. Manufacturers of camping and emergency supplies, please contact Steve Hines by email, or at 818-507-5812 for more information and to discuss licensing.
* For further information, see:
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•U.S. Pat. 7,682,639, www.Google.com/patents