Patent Application
20190242626
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The disclosure and prior art relates to cooling devices and more particularly pertains to a new cooling device for cooling a beverage without ice.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a canister for containing a beverage. The canister is comprised of a thermally conductive material such that the canister is in thermal communication with the beverage. A sleeve is provided and the sleeve is positioned around the canister. The sleeve is comprised of a thermally insulating material to inhibit thermal communication between the beverage and ambient air. A cooling unit is coupled to the sleeve and the cooling unit is in thermal communication with the canister. The cooling unit uses the Peltier effect to create a heat flux between the cooling unit and the canister. In this way the cooling unit cools the beverage in the canister without ice.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A sleeve 24 is provided and the sleeve 24 is positioned around the canister 12. The sleeve 24 is comprised of a thermally insulating material to inhibit thermal communication between the beverage 14 and ambient air. The sleeve 24 has a basal wall 26 and an outside wall 28 extending upwardly therefrom and he outside wall 28 has a distal edge 30 with respect to the basal wall 26 to define an opening 32 into the sleeve 24. The canister 12 is positioned in the sleeve 24 having the outer wall 18 of the canister 12 engaging the outside wall 28 of the sleeve 24. Moreover, the basal wall 26 is spaced from the bottom wall 16 to define a cooling space 34 between the basal wall 26 and the bottom wall 16. The distal edge 20 of the canister 12 is aligned with the distal edge 23 of the sleeve 24.
The outside wall 28 has an outer surface 36 and the outer surface 36 has a depression 38 extending inwardly therein. The depression 38 coils around the outer wall 18 and extends upwardly between the bottom wall 16 and the distal edge 20 to define a plurality of hills 40 on the outer wall 18. The hills 40 enhance gripping the canister 12 thereby inhibiting the canister 12 from being dropped. The outer wall 18 has a threaded portion 42 and the threaded portion 42 extends downwardly from the distal edge 20 of the sleeve 24.
A lid 44 is with removably coupled to the sleeve 24 and the lid 44 closes the canister 12 to inhibit the beverage 14 from escaping the canister 12. The lid 44 has a top wall 46 and perimeter wall 48 extending downwardly therefrom and the perimeter wall 48 is continuous such that the lid 44 has a circular shape. The top wall 46 has an opening 50 extending therethrough to facilitate the beverage 14 to pour outwardly therethrough for consuming the beverage 14. The perimeter wall 48 has an inside surface 52 and the inside surface 52 threadably engages the threaded portion 42 on the outer wall 18 of the sleeve 24 to retain the lid 44 on the sleeve 24.
A spout 54 is movably coupled to the lid 44 and the spout 54 is in fluid communication with an interior of the canister 12. The spout 54 is facilitates the beverage 14 to be drank from the canister 12. The spout 54 has a first end 56 and a second end 58 and each of the first end 56 and the second end 58 is open. The first end 56 is pivotally coupled to the top wall 46 of the lid 44 and the spout 54 is aligned with the opening 50 in the lid 44.
The spout 54 is positioned in a first position having the spout 54 extending upwardly from the lid 44 and having the first end 56 being in fluid communication with the opening 50 in the lid 44. In this way the spout 54 is facilitated to pass the beverage 14 therethrough for drinking. The spout 54 is positioned in a second position having the spout 54 lying flat on the lid 44 and having the first end 56 being removed from fluid communication with the opening 22. In this way the spout 54 inhibits the beverage 14 from passing therethrough.
A cooling unit 68 is provided and the cooling unit 68 is coupled to the sleeve 24. Moreover, the cooling unit 68 is in thermal communication with the canister 12. The cooling unit 68 uses the Peltier effect to create a heat flux between the cooling unit 68 and the canister 12. In this way the cooling unit 68 cools the beverage 14 in the canister 12 without ice, a compressor or an evaporator.
The cooling unit 68 comprises a Peltier cooler 70 that has a first surface 72 and a second surface 74. The Peltier cooler 70 is positioned in the cooling space 34 having the first surface 72 abutting the bottom wall 16 of the canister 12. Thus, the first surface 72 is in thermal communication with the bottom wall 16. The second surface 74 is heated when the Peltier cooler 70 is turned on such that the first surface 72 is cooled using the Peltier effect. In this way the Peltier cooler 70 cools the canister 12 and consequently cools the beverage 14 in the canister 12.
A heat sink 76 is coupled to the sleeve 24 and the heat sink 76 is in thermal communication with ambient air. The heat sink 76 is in thermal communication with the second surface 74 of the Peltier cooler 70 to exchange heat between the second surface 74 of the Peltier cooler 70 and the ambient air. The heat sink 76 may be a thermally conductive plate, a ribbed heat exchanger and any other conventional type of heat sink 76.
A power supply 78 is coupled to the sleeve 24 and the power supply 78 is electrically coupled the Peltier cooler 70. The power supply 78 comprises a switch 80 that is coupled to the outside wall 28 of the sleeve 24. The switch 80 is electrically coupled to the Peltier cooler 70 such that the switch 80 turns the Peltier cooler 70 on and off. At least one battery 82 is positioned between the Peltier cooler 70 and the basal wall 26 of the sleeve 24 and the at least one battery 82 is electrically coupled to the switch 80. The at least one battery 82 may be a rechargeable, Lithium ion battery 82 or the like.
A charge port 84 is coupled to the outside wall 28 of the sleeve 24 and the charge port 84 is electrically coupled to the at least one battery 82. The charge port 84 is selectively and electrically coupled to a power source 86 thereby facilitating the at least one battery 82 to be charged. The charge port 84 may be a usb port or the like and the power source 86 may be a usb cord that is electrically coupled to a source of electrical current.
In use, the beverage 14 is poured into the canister 12 and the lid 44 is coupled to the sleeve 24. The spout 54 is selectively urged into the first position to drink the beverage 14 from the container. The switch 80 is selectively manipulated to turn the Peltier cooler 70 on when the beverage 14 reaches an undesirably high temperature. The Peltier cooler 70 exchanges heat between the canister 12 and the heat sink 76 thereby facilitating the beverage 14 in the canister 12 to be cooled. In this way the Peltier cooler 70 facilitates the beverage 14 to be cooled and/or maintained at a cooled temperature in a remote location without the use of ice.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
