Portable heating for small quantities of consumer product

An apparatus for heating a product, the apparatus comprising:

• a storage compartment containing one or more products to be heated;
• and
• a heater module physically and thermally coupled to the storage compartment and configured to produce heat, when activated, for heating the one or more products in the storage compartment,
• wherein the heater module comprises:
• a housing that defines a reaction chamber inside the housing;
• a rigid barrier inside the reaction chamber that demarcates a first portion of the reaction chamber from a second portion of the reaction chamber;
• a first liquid chemical reactant inside the reaction chamber;
• a flexible bag immersed in the first liquid chemical reactant;
• a second liquid chemical reactant inside the flexible bag,
• wherein the first chemical reactant and the second chemical reactant are configured to produce an exothermic chemical reaction when they come into contact with each other;
• a piercing element that is movable, by a user, to pierce the flexible bag,
• wherein, after piercing the flexible bag, when a distal end of the piercing element is inside the flexible bag, the piercing element establishes or helps establish a fluid communication path from inside the flexible bag to the second portion of the reaction chamber.

An apparatus for heating a product, the apparatus comprising:

• a housing that defines a reaction chamber;
• a first liquid chemical reactant inside the reaction chamber;
• a flexible container inside a first portion of the reaction chamber;
• a second liquid chemical reactant inside the flexible container and configured to react exothermically upon contact with the first liquid chemical reactant;
• a piercing element that is movable to pierce the flexible container;
• one or more fluid distribution channels in a second portion of the reaction chamber, separated from the first portion of the reaction chamber by at least one rigid barrier,
• wherein the piercing element is configured to pierce the flexible container and establish or help establish a fluid communication path from inside the flexible container to the second portion of the reaction chamber.