Patent Application
20150204602
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to beverage containers which include a heat exchange unit (HEU) housed therein for self-cooling a beverage and more specifically is directed to a method and apparatus for enhancing the adsorption of carbon dioxide on carbon in the HEU.
2. Description of Prior Art
Self-cooling beverage containers which include a heat exchange unit are well known in the prior art and various types of heat exchange units have been developed to accomplish the desired self-cooling. Various types of refrigerants have been disclosed in the prior art for accomplishing the cooling utilizing the heat exchange units. Typical of such devices are those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,460,765; 3,373,581; 3,636,726; 3,726,106; 4,584,848; 4,656,838; 4,784,678; 5,214,933; 5,285,812; 5,325,680; 5,331,817; 5,394,703; 5,606,866; 5,692,381; 5,692,391; 5,655,384; 6,102,108; 6,105,384; and 6,125,649.
The self-cooling devices as utilized in the prior art exemplified by the above-identified patents are generally unsatisfactory for various reasons among which are that many of the refrigerants used were deleterious to the environment.
As a result of some of the unsatisfactory aspects of the prior devices, there has been developed a heat exchange unit which utilizes activated carbon which adsorbs carbon dioxide under pressure thereon to function as the refrigerant. Such a device is illustrated in
Referring now particularly to
As a result of the failures of such prior art devices there has been developed a HEU which is constructed of a lower metal shell having a closed bottom and an open top, which receives a compacted adsorbent material, typically activated carbon, disposed internally thereof. A metal top section having an open upper end is fitted over the open end of the shell and is secured to the outer surface of the shell by a metal to metal adhesive, thus bonding the top section to the shell. Such a structure is shown in
Referring now more particularly to
The upper portion of the top section (204) of the HEU terminates in an opening (206) defined by a solid curl (208). The solid curl (208) receives a valve mechanism of the type generally above described in the prior art which is carried by a typical mounting member having a pedestal within which there is sealingly secured the appropriate dispensing valve. The valve includes the typical stem extending through the central opening in the pedestal and a safety device that will open under excess pressure. The mounting member is inserted into the opening (206) at the top section and the outer periphery thereof and is affixed to the curl (208) by way of a crimping operation as is well known to those skilled in the art. The crimping operation not only secures the valve assembly to the HEU (200) but in addition closes and seals the open upper end of the HEU and the can to which it is affixed typically through the use of a gasket (not shown). A more detailed explanation of the valve and the crimping operation may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,384 which is incorporated herein by this reference.
The heat exchange unit (200) for the present invention is an adsorbent/desorbent mechanism preferably utilizing compacted activated carbon which is capable of adsorbing, under pressure, a significant quantity of carbon dioxide gas for later release. The carbon dioxide adsorbed on the adsorbent, preferably activated carbon particles, when released to atmospheric pressure will experience a significant drop in temperature thereby chilling the beverage which comes into contact with the outer surface of the heat exchange unit (200). A more detailed explanation of the carbon-carbon dioxide adsorbent refrigeration system is contained in U.S. Pat. No. 7,185,511 and incorporated herein by reference. Therefore a further and more detailed explanation of the carbon-carbon dioxide refrigerant system will not be provided herein.
As shown in
As is illustrated in
The top section (204) may be machined from a blank of appropriate metal such as stainless steel. Preferably, the top section (204) may be die cast from zinc or aluminum. Whether the top section (204) is machined or die cast, or formed by other methods such as eyelet stamping or forming or spinning, it has the required strength to withstand the pressures generated by the pressurized carbon dioxide and even under high temperature conditions will not fail.
As is shown more clearly in
The open upper portion (208) of the top section (204) is formed to provide a solid curl (232) which receives the crimped flange of the outer periphery of the mounting member of the valve as above described. The top section (204) of the HEU (202) is formed, preferably from die cast zinc or aluminum it will be sufficiently strong so as not to crush or move under the pressure which may be generated by the cooling medium such as the carbon dioxide gas, that is adsorbed by the carbon plug (210).
Through the utilization of a construction such as that illustrated and described above, the maximum amount of highly compressed carbon particles can be received within the HEU shell to maximize the amount of carbon dioxide which can be adsorbed by the HEU. As is well known and described in the prior art, when the valve through which the carbon dioxide is inserted into the carbon plug (210) is activated, the adsorbed carbon dioxide then desorbs from the carbon particles and exits the HEU and in doing so removes heat from the food or beverage surrounding the external surface (218) of the HEU thereby cooling the food or beverage to the desired amount to make it more palatable. As is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,384, which is incorporated by reference, a protective food grade coating may be applied to the entire external surface of the HEU to preclude any contamination of the food or beverage surrounding the HEU or the possible alteration of the taste thereof. The coating may be a food grade epoxy lacquer having a thickness of between 4 and 10 microns.
It has been discovered that it requires a significant period of time to adsorb the desired amount of C02 onto the carbon particles. What is needed is an apparatus and method to obtain faster and more complete adsorption of the C02 onto the compacted carbon, within a shorter period of time.
A method comprising injecting carbon dioxide under pressure into a HEU including a bottom section containing compacted carbon particles and maintaining the pressure for a time sufficient to remove residual air trapped in the pores of the compacted carbon and replace it with carbon dioxide gas adsorbed onto the carbon particles.
An apparatus including a fixture for receiving the completed heat exchange unit source of carbon dioxide gas under pressure, a valve to control application of the gas to the HEU, a timer for maintaining gas under pressure in the HEU for a time sufficient to replace residual air therein with carbon dioxide gas.
When the carbon dioxide gas under pressure is inserted into the HEU in order to have the gas adsorbed onto the carbon particles, heat is generated and must be dissipated. As the heat is generated, it limits the amount of carbon dioxide gas that can be adsorbed onto the carbon particles. As a result, the manufacturing process of inserting the carbon dioxide into the HEU must be stopped or the HEU must be subjected to a cooling cycle so that an additional period of injecting the carbon dioxide gas into the HEU can be accomplished to have the required amount of carbon dioxide gas adsorbed so that the HEU can properly function to chill the food or beverage surrounding the HEU when the carbon dioxide gas is desorbed from the carbon particles. It has been found now that one of the difficulties encountered is that the initial application of the carbon dioxide gas into the HEU must remove the trapped air that is contained within the carbon particles. As a result and in accordance with the principles of the present invention, it has been found that by initially applying carbon dioxide gas to the HEU can shorten the period of time required to apply the required amount of carbon dioxide gas during the manufacturing process. To accomplish this, the HEU is positioned within a fixture which may be connected to a source of carbon dioxide gas under pressure in such a manner that the carbon dioxide gas can be inserted into the HEU prior to the normal manufacturing process and then maintained for a sufficient period of time to replace the air which is trapped within the carbon particles. Such a process will then provide a situation where the maximum amount of carbon dioxide gas can be adsorbed by the carbon particles in the HEU during the gassing stage of manufacture in a shorter period of time than has been the case in the prior art thereby shortening the manufacturing process time.
In accordance with the present invention reference is now made specifically to
Referring now more specifically to
Referring now more particularly to
The operation of the apparatus is as follows: the toggle clamps (306) through (316) are unlatched and the top block (302) is removed from the fixture. The HEU assembly (326) is then inserted into the cavity (324) formed in the bottom block (300) until the rim (230) of the top section is seated on the steal support ring (330). The top block (302) is then placed over the HEU and aligned into the alignment cones (350) formed between the bottom block (300) and the top block (302). Thereafter, all six of the toggle clamps are closed and locked into place to be sure that the high pressure seal (332) is seated against the top of the HEU assembly (326). It should be understood that other means may be utilized to sealably secure the top and bottom blocks together such as a threaded ring, having engaging threads between the top and bottom block or the like. The valve (320) is then opened to allow the CO2 gas under pressure to enter the interior of the HEU assembly (326). The pressure of the CO2 gas is between approximately 10 and 50 bars.
The system control contains a pressure detector 252 so that when the C02 pressure is detected a signal is provided which initiates a timer 256, which maintains the pressure in the HEU assembly (326) at a predetermined level for a predetermined period of time.
The amount of pressure and the time selected to maintain the pressure is determined by how long it will take to purge the compacted carbon of substantially all residual air particles. It has been found that by purging the residual air particles and replacing them with the C02 a larger amount of C02 can be adsorbed onto the compacted carbon in a shorter time during the HEU gassing cycle. What occurs is that when the C02 is released there is a residual head of approximately 10 grams of C02 left on the carbon. This then provides a 10 gram head start on the gassing cycle.
By reference to
By eliminating the air in the HEU through the apparatus as above described and replacing the air with C02, the cooling performance of the HEU is improved. The improved performance is attributable to the fact that air does not provide cooling while the C02 does. After the HEU is removed from the apparatus subsequent to the purging of the air particles with the C02 under pressure a protective cap as shown at 370 in
There has thus been disclosed an apparatus and process for replacing trapped air within the carbon particles contained within an HEU by carbon dioxide gas to thereby provide a residual head of carbon dioxide gas which may be retained within the HEU until such a time as the gassing cycle for a self-cooling container including an HEU is provided.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US13/64687 | 10/11/2013 | WO | 00 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61714128 | Oct 2012 | US |
