Patent Grant
12104848
The application relates to a cooling device for cooling beverages therein. The cooling device provides a chamber for holding a beverage container to be cooled or chilled in a rapid manner. The application also relates to a container adapted for use with the cooling device, and to a system including the cooling device and the container.
In a conventional freezer, the air inside is typically maintained at or around 0 degrees Fahrenheit. When an object at room temperature (e.g., 72 or 73 degrees Fahrenheit) is placed inside a freezer, its heat will be transferred to the cooler surrounding air and nearby structures and objects to which it comes into contact. However, the rate of which the heat is transferred from the object to the surrounding environment, thereby cooling the object to a colder temperature, is typically slower than one would like. This is especially true in the case of beverages. For example, it may take up to 45 minutes to drop the temperature of a soda or other beverage held in a standard 12 ounce can from room temperature to 45 degrees Fahrenheit if the beverage can is simply placed in a freezer in a typical manner. A typical bottle of white wine may take even longer to chill, due to factors such as the larger size of a standard wine bottle, and weaker thermal conductivity of a glass bottle compared to an aluminum can, among other factors.
There is therefore a need to provide a more dynamic chilling or cooling device that is capable of more rapidly cooling beverages and other liquids from room temperature. A cooling device according to embodiments of the invention provides a more efficient mode of heat transfer from a beverage container into the cooling device, thereby lowering the temperature of the beverage held in the container at a more rapid pace. In essence, the cooling device more efficiently and compactly stores the chilling properties of a freezer by surrounding the container with a dense block of aluminum, aluminum alloy, or other material with strong thermal conductivity, to more effectively transfer heat between the cooling device and the container and thereby lower the temperature of a container and stored beverage held therein in a more rapid fashion.
Cooling devices according to embodiments of the invention are configured to be placed in a freezer compartment, so that the core temperature of the cooling device is maintained between 0 and 10 degrees Fahrenheit when not in use. When a beverage can or container at a warmer temperature is placed inside a chamber of the cooling device, a thermal equilibration process immediately begins, and the temperature of the cooling device and the fluid inside the container immediately begin to converge. This process occurs because, due to the differential in temperatures between the cooling device and the beverage container, the mass of the cooling device rapidly draws heat from the fluid inside the container back to itself, lowering the temperature of the container and the fluid inside, while increasing the temperature of the cooling device itself. The strong thermal conductivity of the cooling device allows this process to occur more rapidly than if the heat transfer is only via the cold air in the freezer.
Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description of embodiments by means of the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:
Referring to
The first body 10 is configured to be assembled to the second body 20 with the inner face 14 facing the second body 20. The outer face 11 is configured to be flat for ease of placement on flat surfaces. The inner face 14 includes a cylindrical segment-shaped recess 15 that runs along an entire length of the first body 10 and that is open to the front and back faces 13, 18. The cylindrical recess 15 may be sized, for example, to receive and closely contact a body of a standard soda can, which has a 66 mm diameter. To this effect, the cylindrical recess 15 may have a radius of curvature of, for example, 33 mm. Other embodiments may include larger or smaller recesses, and/or recesses of different shapes, to facilitate receiving of different sized containers therein. The cylindrical recess 15 formed on the first body 10 may include exactly half of a full cylinder shape, to facilitate easy insertion of a soda can or other appropriately sized beverage container into the cylindrical recess 15 from a direction transverse to the inner face 14. In other embodiments, the cylindrical recess may include less, or even more, of a half of a full cylinder shape. In embodiments where more than half of a full cylinder shape is formed, insertion of a correspondingly sized container may only be facilitated in a lengthwise direction, or in other words, slid in from the front face or the back face.
The cylindrical recess 15 is sized so as to make the first body 10 form a substantially U-shaped cross-section. In addition to the cylindrical recess 15, the inner face 14 of the first body further defines a longitudinally extending recess 16 on either side of the cylindrical recess 15, each of which also extends from the front face 13 to the back face 18. The recesses 16 are in communication with the cylindrical recess 15 and further form abutments 17 that extend laterally outwardly from the cylindrical recess 15. The abutments 17 are configured to abut against a portion of the second body 20 when the bodies 10, 20 are assembled together, as will be described in greater detail below. In the embodiment shown, the recesses 16 each has a rectangular cross-section, but may be otherwise shaped in other embodiments. Furthermore, in the embodiment shown, a depth of the recesses 16 measured between the inner face 14 and the cylindrical recess 15 is greater than a width of the abutments 17, but in other embodiments, the relative sizes between the depth of the recesses 16 and the width of the abutments 17 may be differently arranged.
Furthermore, a first knob 30 is connected to the front face 13 of the first body 10, and a second knob 30 is connected to the back face 18 (see, e.g.,
The second body 20 is formed similarly to the first body 10, and goes below the first body 10 in an assembled state. The second body 20 in the described embodiments may serve as a base of the cooling device 1. The second body 20 includes an outer surface or face 21, two side surfaces or faces 22, a front surface or face 23, an inner surface or face 24, and a back surface or face 28, where the inner face 24 is configured to face the first body 10 when the first and second bodies 10, 20 are assembled together. Similarly to the first body 10, the outer face 21 of the second body 20 is configured to be flat for ease of placement on flat surfaces, and to maximize or otherwise increase surface contact with a shelf or freezer floor on which the second body 20 is placed to more readily and effectively conduct heat away from the second body 20 to the shelf or floor. Also similarly to the first body 10, the inner face 24 also defines a cylindrical segment-shaped recess 25. Here, the cylindrical recess 25 forms exactly half of a cylinder to match the half cylinder formed by recess 15, such that when the first and second bodies 10, 20 are assembled together, the cylindrical recesses 15, 25 together form a full cylindrically shaped tunnel or chamber 40 that extends through the length of the cooling device 1. It shall be noted that in embodiments where the cylindrical recess of the first body may form more than half of a cylinder, the cylindrical recess of the second body may correspondingly form less than half of a cylinder, or vice versa, so that the two recesses together will form a full cylindrical chamber. In addition, while the cylindrical recesses 15, 25 are shown to extend entirely through their respective bodies 10, 20, in some embodiments, the bodies may be closed at either the first faces 13, 23, or the second faces 18, 28, or both, so that the chamber 40 formed by the recesses 15, 25 may be closed and inaccessible from either or both sides of the cooling device when assembled. Other modifications may also be contemplated without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
The second body 20 also includes additional recesses 26 formed in the inner face 24, but unlike the recesses 16 of the first body 10, the recesses 26 of the second body 20 are not in communication with the cylindrical recess 25. Rather, the recesses 26 are formed between the inner face 24 and the side faces 22 of the second body 20, so as to be accessible from and open to the sides of the second body. The dimensions of the recesses 26 are selected to provide a form-fit connection with the recesses 16 of the first body 10 when the bodies 10, 20 are assembled together. In other words, when the first and second bodies 10, 20 are assembled together, the recesses 16, 26 are arranged so that the first and second bodies 10, 20 form a form-fit connection therebetween, while the cylindrical recesses 15, 25 form a cylindrical chamber 40 that extends substantially uninterruptedly from the front faces 13, 23 to the back faces 18, 28. As such, the depth of the recess 26 measured from the inner face 24 to a ledge 27 in the embodiment shown is greater than a width of the ledge 27, similar to the size and arrangement of the recess 16. However, in other embodiments, the relative dimensions between the recess 26 and ledge 27 may be different, to correspond to the size of the recesses 16.
As best seen in the enlarged portion illustrated in
In some embodiments (not shown), additional surface features, for example, one or more additional ribs and grooves, may be provided at select positions along the length of the inner surfaces 14, 24, which may inhibit longitudinal sliding between the bodies 10, 20. Alternatively, stops formed at either the front or back faces, or both, or other features providing similar functionality, may serve a similar function (not shown).
Similar to the first body 10, the second body 20 may also facilitate attachment of a knob 30 on its front face, and may also be positioned to avoid obstructing the cylindrical recess 25. As such, as best seen in
The knobs 30 are shown as screw-in knobs that have an enlarged head for easier handling by a user. As best seen in
Referring back to the recesses 16, 26 of the first embodiment, alternative embodiments have also been contemplated. For example, in an alternative arrangement, the recesses on the first body may instead be formed on the outside of the first body, while the recesses on the second body may instead be formed inside and communicate with the cylindrical recess. In such an arrangement, the depth of the recesses on the second body may be shorter than the depth of the recesses on the first body, to facilitate a closer merging of the first and second bodies at the chamber 40, while maintaining the gap on the outside of the cooling device.
Still other modifications can further be applied. For example, the sides and/or top of the cooling device may be modified to include ridges, other textures, or otherwise increase surface area, if additional tests find that such increased surface area between the cooling device and the surrounding air will accelerate rechilling time of the cooling device, for example, after an initial use.
At least the first and second bodies of the cooling device, as well as other portions of the cooling device, may be manufactured using solid aluminum or aluminum alloy. For example, some prototypes on which tests were conducted were constructed using 6061 aluminum alloy. The aluminum parts may have anodized, polished, and/or dyed surfaces, and may be manufactured, for example, through an extrusion process. The respective parts can be made of the same materials and/or alloys, or of different materials from one another. Anodization of the surface of the bodies of the cooling device will improve durability of the cooling device by creating a thin layer of anodized aluminum which will be harder than the underlying aluminum or aluminum alloy, as well as potentially improve appearance, for example, by more easily facilitating coloring and/or labeling of the bodies, for example, with corporate logos. Meanwhile, manufacturing via extrusion yielded the most reliable and smooth finish for the cylindrical recesses, which are key to maximizing contact with a container of an appropriate size. The surfaces of the cylindrical recesses should be as smooth as possible to minimize any imperfections that might lead to micro air pockets and/or otherwise reduce contact area, which would consequently slow down heat transfer. Furthermore, even after extrusion, the surfaces of at least the cylindrical channels should be polished or otherwise smoothed out to maximize contact area with a suitable container.
In operation, the first body can be lifted or otherwise manipulated to provide clearance for a soda can or other beverage container to be inserted into the chamber. The first body can then be moved back into position atop the second body to close the chamber around the sides of the beverage container and to closely envelop the container. When two objects with different temperatures are placed in contact with one another, the heat transfer occurs at the surface area where the two objects make contact. By maximizing surface area contact with a standard soda can or other similarly sized container by constructing the cylindrical chamber 40 at the same size of 66 mm diameter such that the chamber closely envelops the container, heat transfer between the cooling device and the container can also be maximized. In this example, about 70% to 80% of the surface area of a standard 12 ounce soda can will be in direct contact with the cooling device, when taking into account, for example, the ends of the can and tapered transitions. In contrast, in cases where the shape of the chamber does not exactly match the diameter of the container, the contact surface would be drastically lower, leading to reduced heat transfer between the container and the cooling device. As can be seen in particular in
Certain common metals have strong thermal conductivity, such as copper, aluminum, and zinc. Of the materials tested, aluminum was chosen as the preferred base material because of its strong conductive properties, and also because of its availability, density, recyclability, durability, cost, production and manufacturing capabilities, and safety. Aluminum was also shown to tolerate and withstand both the cold environment in the freezer as well as high humidity environments well during testing. In other embodiments, another material with relatively strong thermal conductivity can be used instead, for example, copper or zinc as mentioned above.
To add further specificity with respect to materials that can be used, a tradeoff between thermal conductivity and other factors must be considered. For example, copper, silver, and gold all have higher thermal conductivity than aluminum, but are all much more expensive than aluminum. Other materials may be harder and therefore more difficult to manufacture. Or other factors may also contribute to the material or materials selected. Even amongst aluminum, although pure aluminum may have a higher thermal conductivity than, for example, 6061 aluminum alloy, 6061 aluminum alloy may be more readily available and/or easier to manufacture the desired shapes via extrusion in comparison. And through testing, 6061 aluminum alloy yielded acceptably rapid cooling results, discussed in greater detail below. Therefore, it should be understood that while various different materials can be used to construct a cooling device without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention, selecting materials with thermal conductivities that deviate too much from that of 6061 aluminum alloy may unacceptably sacrifice cooling times and/or other performance metrics or properties. As such, a certain performance threshold should still be expected from the material selected.
As an example, 6061 aluminum alloys generally have thermal conductivity of about 150 Wm−1K−1 at 0 degrees Celsius or 32 degrees Fahrenheit, which increases slightly at lower temperatures and decreases slightly at higher temperatures. Therefore, in our typical operating temperature ranges, which will usually start lower at about 0 degrees Fahrenheit in a conventional freezer, the thermal conductivity of 6061 aluminum alloy will also be at around 150 Wm−1K−1, if not slightly higher. Meanwhile, pure aluminum has a higher thermal conductivity, for example, around 250 Wm−1K−1 in the same temperature ranges, and would yield faster cooling results, but may be less desirable than 6061 aluminum alloy due to other factors, as mentioned above. At a lower thermal conductivity range, zinc has a thermal conductivity of around 115 Wm−1K−1 in the same temperature ranges, and could be considered as a possible alternative material without sacrificing too much in terms of performance, but any material with even lower thermal conductivity may, as a consequence, slow cooling times too significantly and affect performance too undesirably. As a further data point, tin or alloys including primarily tin could also be considered, but with the thermal conductivity of tin being in the 75 Wm−1K−1 range, cooling devices constructed using tin may increase cooling times by twofold or more when compared to those constructed using 6061 aluminum alloy. Such reduced performance may be acceptable in some cases and for some consumers, but may not be for others. Therefore, while the material or materials selected for constructing cooling devices according to embodiments of the invention will most preferably be about 150 Wm−1K−1 or higher in the typical operating temperature range (i.e., based on the properties of 6061 aluminum alloy), the primary material or materials selected should at the very least have a thermal conductivity above about 75 Wm−1K−1 in the typical operating temperature range, and more preferably above about 100 Wm−1K−1 in the typical operating temperature range.
Furthermore, another important factor or variable in thermal conduction is the heat transfer coefficient of materials that are in contact with one another. Meanwhile, fluid held inside the container will generally have far lower thermal conductivity than the surrounding aluminum. These variations in thermal conductivity create a rate-limiting variable in the cooling system. When the walls of the beverage container are made of aluminum (as nearly all standard soda cans are), and the cooling device is made of aluminum as well, the heat transfer between the cooling device and the fluid held in the container increases because the similar material properties between the container and the cooling device allow the container and the cooling device to in effect work together to facilitate more rapid heat transfer away from the fluid into the cooling device (i.e., as if there was no layer between the cooling device and the fluid held in the container), while the colder air in the freezer simultaneously and continuously cools the cooling device as well. In contrast, if the container was made of glass or other material with relatively lower thermal conductivity, the heat from the fluid would first have to be transferred to the intermediate glass layer before being transferred from the glass to the aluminum. Similarly, with the first and second bodies or blocks made of solid aluminum or aluminum alloy, rather than for example, having non-aluminum internal components, or made hollow with internal air pockets or chambers, the solid aluminum or aluminum alloy will be able to facilitate faster heat transfer from the fluid or liquid to the cooling device.
Other factors will also affect the rate of heat transfer. For example, the relative masses of the respective objects will also affect the speed of cooling of a held fluid/liquid. The larger the mass of the cooling device, the more heat that can be absorbed. The shape of the cooling device has been designed to maximize the surface area while minimizing cooling time, and the size/mass of the cooling device was determined by the target temperature of a beverage at the end of a given chilling time period. In other words, the size/thickness of the cooling device was selected to be large enough to rapidly chill a certain volume of liquid/fluid by a certain amount (i.e., by an expected target temperature) in an efficient manner, while not being too large so as to facilitate easier handling and storage, as well as to keep material costs down, since half or more of the manufacturing costs of the cooling device may be attributable to the raw materials for forming the main bodies of the cooling device. The overall dimensions of the cooling device can in one embodiment be selected to chill a container sized to maximize contact area with the cooling device and capable of holding a standard bottle of white wine (e.g., 750 mL) from room temperature (e.g., about 72 or 73 degrees Fahrenheit) by approximately 25 degrees to 48 degrees Fahrenheit, which is in the range of an ideal drinking temperature of white wine, in about 3 to 5 minutes. To increase contact area between the cooling device and the container and thereby improve heat transfer, the wine or other beverage is typically first transferred into a cylindrical container with the same diameter as the chamber of the cooling device (e.g., 66 mm), before being placed in the chamber of the cooling device. Depending on the dimensions of the container, the type of beverage being cooled, and other factors, in some embodiments, the cooling device may be capable of chilling a standard bottle of white wine to 48 degrees Fahrenheit in less than 3 minutes, while in others, it may take longer than 5 minutes to reach the same ideal temperature. While the depth of the bottle and the liquid held therein will also affect chilling times (in other words, if the bottle is wider, the center portions of the liquid will take longer to chill), and a narrower diameter channel and chamber would lead to faster cooling times, the selected diameter of 66 mm for the chamber allows for use with the most widely used standard 12 ounce aluminum soda and beverage cans, and so the 66 mm diameter cylindrical chamber was selected for its more universal compatibility.
Another beneficial property of aluminum is its ability to quickly rechill after an initial use, so that reuse will not be delayed too much by the cooling device taking too long to reduce its core temperature down to a serviceable level. In instances where the cooling device was used to chill a first container in about 3 to 5 minutes and then was used to chill a second container immediately after the first usage, cooling times to cool the second container to the same extent may take two to three times as long, for example, approximately 10 to 15 minutes, while a third consecutive usage may prolong the cooling time even more, for example, five to ten times as long, for example, to about 30 minutes. If the cooling device were allowed to cool at least partially on its own between usages, those latter cooling times could be further reduced.
In other arrangements, there may be other target temperatures, volumes of liquid to chill, or type of liquid, among other factors, which may result in different chilling times and/or call for a differently sized or shaped cooling device for similar results. For example, the temperature of a standard 12 ounce can of soda drops by approximately 25 degrees Fahrenheit using the same cooling device even more rapidly, in about 2 to 3 minutes. The starting core temperature of the cooling device will also affect cooling times. The starting core temperature of the cooling device may be affected by factors such as freezer settings, consecutive usage of the cooling device (e.g., if the cooling device is used to chill a second container prior to allowing the cooling device to cool down to its initial temperature), and other factors. For example, if the core temperature of the cooling device is 0 degrees Fahrenheit or lower when a soda can is placed in it, it will take 2 minutes or less to drop the temperature of the soda can by 25 degrees Fahrenheit. In contrast, if the core temperature of the cooling device initially is at 10 degrees Fahrenheit, it may take 3 minutes or more to chill the same soda can by 25 degrees Fahrenheit. And if the core temperature of the cooling device initially is at or around 15 degrees Fahrenheit, it may take 5 minutes or more to chill the same soda can by 25 degrees Fahrenheit. In practice, even in a freezer set at 0 degrees Fahrenheit, the cooling device may begin with a slightly elevated initial core temperature, for example, 5 degrees Fahrenheit, due to the rapid warming of the cooling device and freezer environment even in the short amount of time the freezer door is opened and a beverage container is loaded into the cooling device. Due to such factors, typical cooling even in a freezer set at 0 degrees Fahrenheit may remain above 2 minutes, for example, between 2 and 3 minutes. The dimensions of the cooling device may further be selected such that two standard 12 ounce soda or beverage cans can be placed next to each other inside the chamber of the cooling device. Due to the additional mass of the beverages to be chilled (i.e., 24 ounces compared to 12 ounces), operation in this manner may increase cooling times, for example, to approximately 6 minutes for a 25 degree Fahrenheit drop in temperature from room temperature for both of the beverages. Other factors, such as the composition of the liquid being chilled, may also affect cooling times. For example, wine may contain about 14% ethanol, which transfers heat less efficiently than other liquids such as water, which will cause chilling of wine to be about 10% slower than chilling water.
Upon first operation, it may take about 3 hours initially (and potentially up to 6 hours) for a cooling device at room temperature to reach a desired target core temperature of 0 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit. The cooling device can be placed in the freezer in a closed configuration, with the first and second bodies already assembled to one another, to avoid having to handle and assemble the bodies once chilled, particularly when shelf space does not allow for easy vertical assembly of the two bodies to one another. In other embodiments, it may be beneficial to initially place the cooling device in the freezer in an open configuration (i.e., not assembled together), in order to avoid any condensation between the parts essentially freezing the parts together when the parts are initially cooled from room temperature. Once in the freezer, it will take much less time for the cooling device to return to its optimal starting temperature after usage, since the temperature the cooling device reaches and has to be rechilled from after each use will be much lower than room temperature.
To effectuate the above results, the cooling device is designed to be held in a freezer compartment of a conventional kitchen refrigerator, which will generally allow the core temperature of the cooling device to be held between 0 and 10 degrees Fahrenheit. As discussed above, when a beverage container or other fluid container is placed inside the chamber of the cooling device, a thermal equilibration process immediately begins, and the lower temperature of the cooling device and the higher temperature of the container and the fluid immediately begin to converge, which will result in the cooling device rapidly drawing heat from the fluid inside the container back to itself, and thereby rapidly lowering the temperature of the container and the fluid held inside while raising the temperature of the cooling device surrounding the container.
Different designs were contemplated to keep the two halves of the cooling device in place and stable when in a closed position, while also allowing for ease of use and manipulation when opening and/or otherwise loading or unloading a container to be held in the cooling device. The ledged design shown in the first embodiment in
The specific dimensions of the cooling device can be adjusted based on the desired performance and other specifications associated with the intended use of the cooling device, and embodiments of the invention should not be limited to specific dimensions, so long as the dimensions selected are capable of cooling a desired beverage or other liquid at a specific volume by a specific amount in a given amount of time.
For example, an exemplary embodiment discussed above should have the ability to chill either a beverage in a standard 12 ounce aluminum can by 25 degrees Fahrenheit in about 2 minutes, or a 750 ml bottle of wine held in a 66 mm diameter cylindrical container by the same 25 degrees Fahrenheit in about 5 minutes (e.g., about twice as long as it takes to chill a 12 ounce beverage, primarily due to the increased volume). To this effect, the cooling device discussed in
A height or depth of the groove 16 formed on the first body 10 may be slightly shorter than a height or depth of the groove 26 formed on the second body 20, to allow for some clearance between the inner face 14 of the first body 10 and the ledge 27 of the second body 20. This arrangement will also ensure a closer connection and abutment between the inner face 24 of the second body 20 and the abutment 17 of the first body adjacent the chamber 40, to reduce or prevent gaps forming between the first and second bodies 10, 20 at the chamber 40 when the first and second bodies 10, 20 are assembled together, and thereby maximize contact area with a container held in the chamber 40. In the exemplary embodiment being discussed, the height of the groove 16 may be 9.5 mm, while the height of the groove 26 may be 10 mm. Meanwhile, the depth of the abutment 17 of the first body 10 and the complementary surface at the inner face 24 of the second body 20 may have 6 mm widths, while the depth of the ledge 27 of the second body 20 and the complementary surface at the inner face 14 of the first body 10 may have 8 mm widths. In some embodiments, a further internal gap may be provided to take into account ice buildup, material expansion, and other factors which may inhibit relative movement between the first and second bodies. Such gap may be realized, for example, between the vertical walls of the grooves/recesses 16, 26, where for example, the width of the abutment 17 is formed to be slightly larger, for example, 6.5 mm, while the corresponding width of the remaining portion of the inner face 24 of the second body 20 remains at 6 mm. To reduce height of the overall cooling device, a minimum thickness of the first and second bodies measured between the bottom of the respective cylindrical recesses 15, 25, and their corresponding outer surfaces 11, 21, may be 7 mm. As such, a total height of the second body may be 40 mm (i.e., 33 mm depth/radius of the cylindrical recess 25 plus 7 mm thickness), while a total height of the first body may be 49.5 mm (i.e., 33 mm depth/radius of the cylindrical recess 15 plus 7 mm thickness plus 9.5 mm height of the additional projection at either side of the cylindrical recess. And when assembled, the combined height of the first and second bodies may be 80 mm, including a 0.5 mm gap between the first and second bodies between the respective side surfaces. A width of the cooling device may be slightly wider, at 94 mm (i.e., 66 total diameter of the chamber plus width of two 6 mm recesses plus width of two 8 mm recesses). As noted above, these measurements are exemplary and tested to optimize cooling of the previously identified volumes of beverages and their corresponding containers. Performance with differently sized containers and/or different liquids, among other variables, may be optimized based on other cooling device measurements, and as such, the invention should not be limited to the exact measurements described above.
In the exemplary design, the first body is constructed to be larger and heavier than the second body, due for example, to the projecting ledge of the first body extending away from the halfway point of the cylindrical recess towards the second body, while the recess of the second body is cut away from the outside of the second body. A heavier first body or top half of the cooling device may assist in the first body weighing or squeezing down on an inserted container more effectively to remove any air gaps or other space therebetween. Some embodiments of cooling devices, like the above described embodiment, may further be constructed with integrated gaps on the outside of the device to increase tolerances when the first and second bodies are assembled together. The gaps will also allow for some ice or frost buildup therein, without preventing full closure or assembly of the first and second bodies to one another, and/or may improve sliding or gliding between the first and second bodies during loading and unloading.
The structure of the cooling device 100 may be such that the dimensions of the first and second bodies 110, 120 are identical, symmetrical, or otherwise substantially the same in this embodiment, which should simplify manufacturing costs. Furthermore, while it was seen that in the first embodiment cooling device 1 in
Optionally, while not shown, the cooling device 100 according to the second embodiment may also include attachable knobs like in the first embodiment, to facilitate easier handling and manipulation of the cooling device 100. In still other embodiments, the cooling device 100 may further include one or more displays at certain locations on the cooling device 100. For example, a first display 180 may be located on the outer face 111 of the first body 110, and may for example, provide a timer function to identify a time or countdown of time with respect to how long a container has been held in the chamber 140. Other embodiments may show other information, such as a temperature. The display 180 may be positioned close to the front face 113, so that it is more visible to a user when the cooling device 100 is held on a shelf in a freezer. Another alternative display 181 may, for example, be positioned on the second body 120, for example, on the front face 124 and just below the cylindrical recess 125. The display 181 may also provide temperature information, timer information, both, or other useful information associated with the cooling device or with a beverage being chilled therein. The placement of the display 181 may allow for easy viewing without having to move the cooling device 100. In cases where a timer is provided, a simple timer with predefined intervals (e.g., 2, 3, 5, and 10 minutes) may be provided to alert a user, e.g., of how long their beverage has been in the cooling device, and/or as a safeguard to alert the user that their beverage is still in the cooling device. In cases where a thermometer or other temperature scale is incorporated, a simple analog thermometer with a thin probe extending into the core of the first or second body may be sufficient to show an accurate core temperature of the cooling device, and whether the cooling device is sufficiently prepared for cooling a beverage container. Other displays and/or other controls may be integrated into the cooling device according to either the first or second embodiment, as well as into the later described embodiments, in other ways as well without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.
Furthermore, in some embodiments, it may be advantageous to only employ half of the cooling device 100, for example, only the second body 120, without the first body 110, where a corresponding container is simply placed into cylindrical recess 125 in an open configuration. While cooling times may be longer with such an arrangement, there may be other benefits, for example, the ability to simultaneously chill more beverages at the same time with a single purchased product (i.e., the first and second bodies can be used simultaneously to chill different containers), or may be useful in situations with very limited vertical clearance, for example, where there may not be enough vertical space to fit first body 110 over second body 120. However, in addition to the drawback of slower cooling times, another observed deficiency with such an open arrangement was a large temperature gradient between different parts of the container, for example, those portions in contact with the cooling device compared with those portions which were not in contact, leading to inefficiencies in cooling only certain portions of the liquid held in the container while not cooling other portions, and consequently resulting in noticeable effects to the taste of the partially chilled beverages.
A cooling device 200 according to a third embodiment of the invention is further shown in
At a top end of the body 310, there may be a reduced width or diameter neck portion 320 for attachment of a cap. The neck portion 320 may be threaded or have another attachment mechanism to allow attachment of the cap in an airtight or otherwise sealed manner to prevent or reduce leakage of any liquid held in the bottle 300. The top of the neck portion 320 may define an opening 330 to provide access to the internal chamber of the bottle 300. The opening may be, for example, 33 mm or greater, but is not limited thereto. In general, the bottles 300 should be manufacturable at very low cost, and can therefore be provided as a kit together with the cooling device, and/or separately at a low cost.
As shown in
Various other features may further be incorporated into the cooling device design as well. For example, if a beverage container holding a beverage containing carbon dioxide or other carbonation is accidentally left in the cooling device for too long, the container may break, for example, in about 3 hours. While such would not damage the cooling device, it may be inconvenient to clean up. As such, additional alarms may be incorporated into the cooling device, for example, a built-in or remotely connected timer and notification system to remind users to remove a container from the cooling device. Alternatively, additional thermometers to provide more temperature information that work in conjunction with a timer when the temperature of the beverage falls below a certain level may also be provided.
Auxiliary components may further be provided. For example, auxiliary blocks of aluminum that fit together with the cooling device which may further reduce chilling times may be separately sold. Since a greater mass of aluminum will further reduce chilling times, a modular approach with optional add-on pieces of aluminum that can simply be connected above, below, and/or on the sides of an existing cooling device may be offered to consumers who would like to pay more to realize even shorter cooling times for their cooling devices.
Other features may, for example, ease cleaning of the cooling device, for example, to remove a layer of frost or ice that might accumulate on the first and/or second bodies over time, for example, over 0.5 mm which may affect the ability of the cooling device to close properly and consequently reduce the effectiveness of the cooling device. Other frost prevention techniques may further be employed in other embodiments, for example, a non-stick coating can be applied on the surfaces of the cooling device, via spray deposition or otherwise. Furthermore, after cleaning, the cooling device should be free from moisture before being placed back into the freezer, to prevent a layer of ice forming from the moisture. To this effect, a moisture or other operational-based or safety-based sensor may further be provided to ensure that the cooling device is ready to be placed in the freezer and will operate at an optimal level.
Still further modifications may be contemplated. For example, a cooling device with more than two main bodies may be provided without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. In addition, specific features described with respect to one embodiment may also be incorporated into the other described embodiments, and further combinations can be made, also without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. And still other combinations and/or modifications can be made as well.
While the present invention has been described in connection with certain exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is instead intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, and equivalents thereof.
The present application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/455,061, filed Mar. 28, 2023, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3161031 | Flannery | Dec 1964 | A |
| 4266407 | Gibson | May 1981 | A |
| 4481792 | Groeger | Nov 1984 | A |
| 20190178572 | Jacob | Jun 2019 | A1 |
| 20220297920 | Swartz | Sep 2022 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
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| 202004014250 | Dec 2004 | DE |
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| 63455061 | Mar 2023 | US |
