Frozen bag of liquid thawer utilizing heat at ambient temperature

摘要

The present invention provides a bag thawer 10 for thawing at least one bag of frozen liquid. Generally, the frozen bags of liquid are I.V. bags 42 containing medical solutions. The bag thawer 10 provides an upper contact plate 12 sized to contain a first quantity of heat at room temperature and a lower contact plate 14 sized to contain a second quantity of heat at room temperature. The total heat contained in the upper and lower contact plates 12, 14 is sufficient to thaw the frozen I.V. bags 42 without applying additional heat to I.V. bag 42 or rewarming contact plates 12, 14. The upper and lower contact plates 12, 14 are hinged together by a hinge 16. The upper contact plate 12 is biased by spring 36 towards the lower contact plate 14. In one alternative embodiment, a pair of heaters 116, 118 are placed in contact with the contact plates 112, 114 to maintain the contact plates 112, 114 at approximately room temperature.