Device that can be used to heat and/or refrigerate and/or maintain the temperature of a receptacle suited to housing foodstuffs in particular

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device that can be used for heating and/or refrigerating and/or maintaining the temperature of a receptacle. According to the invention, characteristically it comprises a base module which comprises: heat-producing means (5) and cold-producing means (7), said cold producing means comprising a reservoir (7) containing a fluid and possibly connected to an evaporator, said heat-producing means comprise a thermochemical reactor (5) connected to said reservoir (7) and containing a reagent able to react reversibly with said fluid during an exothermal reaction:—means forming a valve that allows said reservoir (7) or said evaporator to be connected to said thermochemical reactor (5) to produce heat in said reactor (5) as a result of said aforementioned exothermal reaction and simultaneously to produce cold in said reservoir (7), as the result of the expansion and/or evaporation of said fluid;—at least one receptacle (3) made of a thermally conducting material which has a first face able to house the foodstuff that is to be heated/refrigerated and a second face, opposite to said first face and arranged in contact with said heat-producing means (5) or said cold-producing, means (7);—an insulating element (15) which thermally insulates said heat-producing means (5) from said cold-producing means (7); and said reactor (5) and/or said receptacle (3) are removably mounted on said base module.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.