Patent Application
20090019867
The present invention relates to a chiller that uses cold water from a reservoir, such as a picnic cooler, to cool a receptacle, such as a plate or a bowl, as well as food placed on or in the receptacle.
Picnics are a popular pastime that allow people to take food outside, such as in the backyard, to a park, or even to the beach. Picnickers typically pack a cooler with ice and place the food to be eaten during the picnic inside the cooler. The cooler is thermally insulated and the ice inside the cooler helps to keep the food cold for an extended period of time.
One drawback to taking food on a picnic is that, due to the generally hot weather which typically accompanies a picnic, food must remain in a cooler to remain chilled or, alternatively, removed from the cooler and set outside the cooler to allow access to the food by the picnickers. If picnic food, particularly food that contains mayonnaise, such as salads, is allowed to remain out of the cooler for an extended period of time, the food loses its taste and may even go bad, making the food unhealthy to eat.
There exists a need to provide a system that keeps picnic food chilled outside of the cooler, both for taste and for sanitary reasons.
Briefly, the present invention provides a food cooling assembly. The assembly includes a reservoir adapted to retain a fluid. The receptacle includes an opening extending therethrough. The assembly also includes a chiller including a pump having a suction end and a discharge end and a supply conduit having a first supply end releasably couplable to the opening and a second supply end coupled to the suction end of the pump. A cooling conduit having a first cooling end is coupled to the discharge end of the pump and a second cooling end releasably couplable to the opening. A heat transfer device is in physical contact with the cooling conduit between the first cooling end and the second cooling end, such that heat is transferred between the heat transfer device and the cooling conduit.
Further, an additional exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus for cooling food. The apparatus comprises a pump having a suction end and a discharge end and a supply conduit having a first supply end releasably couplable to an opening in a receptacle adapted to retain a fluid and a second supply end coupled to the suction end of the pump. A cooling conduit having a first cooling end is coupled to the discharge end of the pump and a second cooling end releasably couplable to the opening. A heat transfer device is in physical contact with the cooling conduit, such that heat is transferrable between the heat transfer device and the cooling conduit.
Additionally, another exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a method of cooling food using water from a reservoir to cool the food. The method comprises the steps of: placing the food in a receptacle; and circulating the water from the reservoir, out of the reservoir, to the receptacle, and back to the reservoir.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and constitute part of this specification, illustrate the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, and, together with the general description given above and the detailed description given below, serve to explain features of the invention. In the drawings:
Certain terminology is used in the following description for convenience only and is not limiting. The terminology includes the words above specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof and words of similar import. The embodiments illustrated below are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. These embodiments are chosen and described to best explain the principle of the invention and its application and practical use and to enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention.
Referring in general to the figures, a chiller assembly 100 according to the present invention is shown. Chiller assembly 100 comprises a reservoir, such as a picnic cooler 110, and a chiller 120 that is releasably couplable to cooler 110. Cold water circulates through cooler 110 and chiller 120 to remove heat from food being chilled by chiller assembly 100.
Cooler 110 is used as a source of chilled fluid, such as water 113. Water 113 may be provided by melted ice or, alternatively, water 113 may be added to ice that is placed within cooler 110. Cooler 112 includes an opening, such as a drain 114 located proximal to the bottom of cooler 112, that is used to drain water 113 from cooler 110. Drain 114 includes a removable drain plug (not shown) that is removed from drain 114 to allow water 113 to drain from cooler 110. The drain plug may be inserted into drain 114 to keep water 113 from draining out of cooler 110 through drain 114 when chiller 120 is not is use.
Chiller 120 includes a plug 122 that is releasably insertable into drain 114. Plug 122 is sized for a standard sized drain 114 provided in commercially available coolers, such as manufactured by COLEMAN®, THERMOS®, IGLOO®, or others. Plug 122 may be tapered to compensate for slightly differing sized drains 114. Optionally, an adapter (not shown) may be provided to plug drains sufficiently larger than drain 114.
A supply conduit 130 includes a first end 132 that extends into and through plug 122. In an exemplary embodiment, first end 132 extends approximately 12 millimeters from plug 122. Supply conduit 130 also includes a second end 134 that is coupled to a pump 140.
In an exemplary embodiment, pump 140 may be a 9-12 volt DC electrical pump powered by three or four “D” cell batteries. Alternatively, pump 140 may be powered by an electrical connection 141 that provides auxiliary power to pump 140 from an outside power source, such as an automobile cigarette lighter (not shown) or automobile auxiliary power outlet (not shown). Still alternatively, pump 140 may be powered by other means, such as solar power. Pump 140 may pump 1-2 liters per minute of water 113 from cooler 110. Pump 140 has an ON/OFF switch 142 that enables a user to turn pump 140 on and off.
Pump 140 includes a suction end 144 that is coupled to second end 134 of supply conduit 130. Pump 140 also includes discharge end 146 that is coupled to a first end of a cooling conduit 150.
Cooling conduit 150 has a first end 152 that is coupled to pump discharge end 146. Cooling conduit 150 also has a second end 154 that extends into and through plug 122. In an exemplary embodiment, shown in
Cooling conduit 150 includes a contact portion 156 between first end 152 and second end 154 that is wrapped around and contacts a receptacle 160. Contact portion 156 transfers heat from receptacle 160 to contact portion 156. Receptacle 160 may be a bowl, a dish, a plate, a tube, or any other suitable configuration for holding and retaining food thereon or therein. Receptacle 160 may also be in a shape that facilitates the cooling of beverage containers, such as wine bottles, wine boxes, or other drink containers.
In an exemplary embodiment, receptacle 160 is constructed from aluminum or other heat conductive material to facilitate transfer of heat from receptacle 160, through cooling conduit 150, to water 113. Optionally, receptacle 160 may include a removable lid 162 that may be placed over receptacle 160 to reduce ambient heat absorption of food in receptacle 160.
While the exemplary embodiment of chiller assembly 100 shown in
Supply conduit 130 may be constructed from polyurethane or other suitable thermal insulation material in order to reduce thermal losses between cooler 110 and pump 140. Contact portion 156 may be constructed from a metallic material, such as aluminum or copper, to facilitate heat transfer from receptacle 160, through contact portion 156, to water 113 being pumped through contact portion 156. Contact portion 156 may be integrally formed with receptacle 160. Alternatively, contact portion 156 may be adhered to receptacle 160 with an adhesive or a metallic tape.
Optionally, as shown in
Optionally, referring back to
In an alternative exemplary embodiment of a chiller assembly 200, shown in
Receptacle 260 is cooled in a manner as described above with respect to receptacle 160, cooling water 268 in receptacle 260. Cooled water 268 then cools food container 270 through conductive heat transfer. Cooled food container 270 in turn cools food disposed within food container 270.
While chiller assembly 100 may use a cooler 110 that may be a portable cooler, such as a plastic picnic cooler, those skilled in the art will recognize that an alternative exemplary embodiment of a chiller assembly 300 can incorporate a cooler 310 that may be less portable, such as, for example, cooler 310 that may be incorporated into a gas grill 302, shown in
Another exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown schematically in
Receptacles 460, 460′ may be similarly shaped or, alternatively, receptacles 460, 460′ may have different shapes, such as to hold different types/amounts of food. For example, receptacles 460, 460′ may have shapes similar to any of receptacles 160a, 160b, 160c, 160d in
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes could be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the broad inventive concept thereof. It is understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but it is intended to cover modifications within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
