Patent Application
20180259236
The present novel invention relates generally to the art of cooling food and beverage food product containers and to processes for manufacturing such food product containers. More specifically the present invention relates to food and beverage food product containers for cooling a food product such as a beverage; methods of cooling said food products; and methods of assembling and operating the apparatus. The terms “beverage,” “food,” “food products” and “food product container contents” are considered as equivalent for the purposes of this application and used interchangeably. The term “food product container” refers to any sealed and openable storage means for a food product meant for consumption.
There previously have been many self-cooling beverage food product container devices for cooling the contents of a beverage or other food beverage food product container. These devices sometimes use flexible and deformable receptacles or rigid receptacle sides to store a refrigerant for phase change cooling. Some prior art devices use desiccants with a vacuum activated to evaporate water at low pressure and absorb vapor into a desiccant. Other prior devices use refrigerants stored between pressure vessels in liquid phase to achieve the cooling by causing a phase change of refrigerants from a liquid to a gaseous state. The present inventor has invented a variety of such devices and methods of manufacturing them. Several prior self-cooling food product container technologies rely on the evaporation of a refrigerant from the liquid phase to the gaseous phase. Some rely on desiccants only. Desiccant technologies rely the thermodynamic potential of a desiccant to absorb water from a gaseous phase into the desiccant to effectuate the evaporation of water in a vacuum. These earlier inventions do not satisfy all the needs of the beverage industry and they do not use electromotive heat transport means to cool a beverage. In fact, they are so structurally different from the present invention, that one skilled in the art cannot possibly transcend from the prior art to the present invention without an inventive process. In an effort to seek a cost effective and functioning apparatus for self-cooling a beverage food product container, the present inventor has done a variety of experiments to arrive at the present novel method. The following issues have kept the cost effective commercialization of all prior art devices prohibitively high.
Prior art that uses liquefied refrigerants fail to address the real issues of manufacturing and beverage plant operations that are crucial for the success of a self-cooling food product container program. Some such prior art designs require pressurized food product containers to store liquid refrigerants. The only liquid refrigerants that can be stored between commercially viable pressure canisters are HFCS, CFCS, hydrocarbons, ethers, and other highly flammable low-pressure gases. These gases are not commercially viable and have led to difficulty in implementation of such technologies. Most commercial refrigerants are ozone depleting and global warming and as such have been banned by the EPA in the USA and other governing bodies for direct release into the atmosphere as products of a self-cooling food product container. The EPA has mandated that no refrigerant be used in a self-cooling food product container except cot and if used, the design must be safe. Refrigerant currently available causes both global warming and ozone depletion. Generally, they are common refrigerants such as 134a and 152a. In some cases, flammable gases such as butane and propane have been tried but the risk factors are high for several reasons. Firstly, the use of such technologies in a closed room can cause a variety of effects including asphyxiation, poisoning and so on. Second, the flammability of some refrigerants limits the number of food product containers that can be opened in a closed environment such as during parties or in a vehicle. The present inventor has several patents on these prior technologies, has experimented with several of these technologies and has found them to be unsuitable for commercial viability. Further, the cost of refrigerants is very prohibitive and the cost of cooling cannot justify the use of refrigerant gases.
Examples of inventions that use pressurized gases are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,460,765, 3,494,143, 3,088,680, 4,319,464, 3,241,731, 8,033,132, 4,319,464, 3,852,975, 4,669,273, 3,494,141, 3,520,148, 3,636,726, 3,759,060, 3,597,937, 4,584,848, 3,417,573, 3,468,452, 654,174, 1,971,364, 5,655,384, 5,063,754, 3,919,856, 4,640,102, 3,881,321, 4,656,838, 3,862,548, 4,679,407, 4,688,395, 3,842,617, 3,803,867, 6,170,283, 5,704,222 and many others.
Prior art that uses cryogenic refrigerants such as cot fall to address the real issues of manufacturing and beverage plant operations that are crucial for the success of a self-cooling food product container program. All such prior art designs require very highly pressurized food product containers to store the cryogenic refrigerants. Some technologies that promise to use cot have implemented carbon traps such as activated carbon, and fullerene nanotubes to store the refrigerants in a carbon matrix. These added desiccants and activated carbon storage systems are too expensive to implement commercially and further, the carbon and other absorptive media that lowers the pressure can contaminate the beverage products. Therefore, there is a need to reduce the quantities of such chemicals needed. Cryogenic self-cooling food product containers that require the use of very high pressure vessels and cryogenic gases such as CO2 require expensive food product containers made from high pressure bearing materials such as aluminum, steel, or fiber-glass. They are essentially dangerous, since the pressures involved are generally of the order of 600 psi or more. Further, they are complicated since the pressures involved are much higher than a conventional food product container can withstand; examples of such prior art include the devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,817, U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,703 to the present inventor, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,131,239, 5,201,183, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,236.
Desiccant-based self-cooling food product containers require the desiccant to be stored between a premade vacuum. When the vacuum is released between the two compartments, water vapor is pulled into the vacuum and then absorbed by the desiccant and heat of evaporation is taken from the cooled item and transported to condense in the desiccant. The heat taken by the evaporated water heats up the desiccant and must not be permited to interact with the beverage, otherwise it would heat up the beverage again. It is very difficult to maintain a true vacuum in the desiccant chamber and in a water reservoir. Further, the valves and activation devices used by prior art require stiff pins, knives and so on. The vacuum must be maintained for a long period of storage and can sometimes fail. Migration of moisture into the desiccant can destroy the cooling capacity. Further, it is extremely difficult to handle desiccant crystals the way prior art designs are implemented, and powders in a mass-manufacturing environment where the desiccant has to be maintained moisture free and contaminant-free inside a pressurized beverage food product container. Thus, a better technology is needed to handle these desiccants separately from the food product container. Further, the heat absorption potential of desiccants reduces as the vacuum is released and evaporation starts, so that the process is inefficient by itself and is limited to the amount of desiccant used.
The problems presented by vacuums, including difficulties in creating and maintaining them and the lack of efficiency they can produce, have been encountered in other fields as well. An early example can be found in the evolution of Thomas A. Edison's light bulb. His first practical incandescent lamp, for which he received a patent in 1879, included a carbonized bamboo filament contained within an evacuated glass bulb. Although it arguably propelled the world into a new era, it was initially highly inefficient. Then in 1904, European inventors replaced the carbonized bamboo filament with tungsten, and in 1913 it was discovered that replacing the vacuum within the bulb with an inert dry gas doubled its luminous efficiency. Although this field of art is different from the present one, and the technical issues presented were quite different, this is perhaps a thought provoking example of an advance in product efficiency resulting from the replacement of a vacuum with a dry gas.
In general, these prior art technologies are not cost-effective technologies and they rely on extremely large and complicated canister designs in relation to the beverage food product containers within which they are contained. In fact, the ratio of desiccant to water is about 3:1 and the ratio of the volumetric loss in such beverage food product containers is about 40%. The cost of the desiccant or sorbent, the cost of the food product container, and the cost of the process of manufacture are prohibitive, despite nearly 20 years of trials. Thus it is advantageous to reduce the amounts of these components needed and to restructure the manufacturing process to divorce the interior of the food product container from these chemicals.
Examples of devices that use this technology are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,107,783, 6,389,839, 5,168,708, 6,141,970, 829,902, 4,462,224, 7,213,401, 4,928,495, 4,250,720, 2,144,441, 4,126,016, 3,642,059, 3,379,025, 4,736,599, 4,759,191, 3,316,736, 3,950,960, 2,472,825, 3,252,270, 3,967,465, 1,841,691, 2,195,0772, 322,617, 5,168,708, 5,230,216, 4,911,740, 5,233,836, 4,752,310, 4,205,531, 4,048,810, 2,053,683, 3,270,512, 4,531,384, 5,359,861, 6,141,970, 6,341,491, 4,993,239, 4,901,535, 4,949,549, 5,048,301, 5,079,932, 4,513,053, 4,974,419, 5,018,368, 5,035,230, 6,889,507, 5,197,302, 5,313,799, 6,151,911, 6,151,911, 5,692,381, 4,924,676, 5,038,581, 4,479,364, 4,368,624, 4,660,629, 4,574,874, 4,402,915, 5,233,836, 5,230,216. U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,662 uses a sponge in place of a desiccant to cool a beverage.
Prior art also reveals chemically endothermic self-cooling food product containers. These rely on the use of fixed stoichiometric reactions of chemicals to absorb heat from the food product container contents. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,970,068, 2,300,793, 2,620,788, 4,773,389, 3,561,424, 3,950,158, 3,887,346, 3,874,504, 4,753,085, 4,528,218, 5,626,022, 6,103,280, and numerous others use endothermic reactions remove heat from water to cool the beverage food product container.
Prior endothermic self-cooling food product containers depend on the stoichiometric mixture of a fixed amounts of chemicals to achieve a fixed amount of cooling. After the cooling process, the thermodynamic transport mechanism and potential to cool is exhausted and no further cooling can take place. Further, the products of the reaction remain as caustic and acidic components in the form of bases and acids that can be harmful. For example, us patent application pub. No: US 2015/0354885AL shows a system for externally cooling a beverage containing a specific amount of beverage. The system comprises a cooling housing having an inner wall and an outer wall, the inner wall being of thermally conductive material contacting at least a part of the beverage holder, the cooling housing defining an inner compartment including at least two separate, substantially non-toxic reactants, causing, when reacting with one another, a non-reversible, entropy-increasing reaction producing substantially non-toxic products in a stoichiometric number at least a factor 3 larger than the stoichiometric number of said reactants, said at least two separate substantially non-toxic reactants initially being included in said inner compartment separated from one another and causing, when reacting with one another in said non-reversible, entropy-increasing reaction, a heat reduction of said beverage within said beverage holder. While no recovery system is used to economize on the stoichiometric ratio of reactants, the system falls under the same types of endothermic systems disclosed in all prior art that use a fixed cooling potential based on fixed stoichiometric ratio of reactants. No further cooling is disclosed using electromotive heat transport means.
The present invention differs from all the mentioned prior art and provides a novel cost effective and thermodynamically simple and viable heat transport means for cooling a beverage in a food product container by renewing the cooling potential of fixed amounts of reactants using electromotive regeneration of a dry gas. Many trials and designs have been made to obtain the present configuration of the disclosed invention.
Generally related us patents that teach reaction cooling include: U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,464, issued on March 1982 to Dodd; U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,267, issued on September 1982 to nelson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,273, issued on June 1987 to Fischer et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,343 issued on February 1989 to Rudick et al; U.S. Pat. No. 5,447,039 issued on September 1995 to Allison; U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,501 issued on December 1998 to Stonehouse et al; U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,300, issued on may 2000 to anthony; U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,108 issued on august 2000 to Sillince; U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,384 issued on august 2000 to joseph; U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,491, issued on January 2002 to Paine et al; U.S. Pat. No. 6,817,202, issued on November 2004; and anthony, U.S. Pat. No. 7,107,783.
1.0 Deficiencies of Prior Art that Use Endothermic Cooling Systems
Thus the present invention bypasses the stoichiometric limitations of common methods of cooling a product by endothermic reactions and also bypasses the need for a true vacuum and other deficiencies and goes directly into the properties of electromotive vapor and heat transport means using a dry gas in a low vapor pressure state with dew point temperatures in the range 10° f to −150° f as well as the properties of materials used acting in a beneficial manner.
2.0 Deficiencies of Prior Art that Use Desiccant/Vacuum Cooling Systems
In the present invention, a plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber technology is used by some embodiments of the present invention. A dry gas is used to absorb humidification liquid vapor from distinct compartments made by a compartment forming sleeve member that can be at ice-cold temperatures while lowering the dry gas's dew point temperature (not its temperature). Unlike the conventional desiccant systems of the prior art, this humidification liquid vapor is not readily available to the cooling surfaces for condensation. The humidification liquid vapor is held by the low vapor pressure of the dry gas, and thus will not condense back on cooling surfaces. The plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber absorbs the vapor from the dry gas and the need for a true vacuum is eliminated. Thus any humidification liquid can be used. For example, a humidification liquid such as dimethyl ether which is a pressurized liquid can be used but can give off vapor that can be absorbed by a dry gas instantly. In a sense the dry gas acts as a locomotive vapor pressure cascade conductor for transferring vapor from the liquid phase to the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber using an electromotive potential. As long as the vapor is not exposed to the cooling chamber, it is absorbed by the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber which interacts with the electromotive nature of dry gas more readily than with the direct vapor. For example, standard desiccants in air conditioners that use desiccant-wheels use the advantages provided by a dry gas to move moisture and regenerate. This is not done in a vacuum. One can imagine that the dry gas has interstitial van de wall forces that hold the vapor in a tightly confined interstitial form that is more suitable for the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber to absorb it. It has been shown that molecular sieves of smaller pore size can absorb vapor from dry gas more readily than from the direct absorption of vapor itself. This can be explained if one realizes that polar vapor molecules mostly tend to electrostically bond to form cascade chains toward the lower vapor pressure regions and thus exhibit viscous behavior like a fluid eliminating their polarity. The polarity of humidification liquids such as water is what is needed to drive the desiccant absorption process. This is seen in non-polar gases for example as duplex formations of ordinary gases such as h2, n2, o2 and so on. Dry gas discourages this polarity thus the usual electrostatics associated with dry air to drive the process electrostatically.
The present invention uses a plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber's heat to activate the physical properties of a plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber chamber wall that is specially designed to alter its shape to generate and create a rarefication in by increasing the volume of the dry gas chamber in which a fixed amount of dry gas is stored. Thus there is no need to store a permanent vacuum and a true vacuum is not required.
Further, as an added advantage, the present invention uses deformable simple seals comprising sealing ring structure made of one of a suitable O-ring seals, metal band seals, rubber band seals, putty seals, and sealing waxes seal to cause actuation and perform a sealing function and thus the present invention does not necessarily require pins, knives and other methods to introduce water vapor to the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber, even though they may still be used. There is no worry about a loss of vacuum during storage. As such the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber and the subcategory of vapor absorbers used in the invention do not necessary have to have the best affinity for the humidification liquid vapor of the humidification liquid used. Instead they are optimized for delivery of said humidification liquid vapor by dry gas. Thus while prior inventions require desiccants that are fine tuned for pure vapor absorption, the present invention fine tunes the vapor absorber for absorption of vapor from a dry gas.
The present invention accomplishes the above-stated objectives, as well as others, as may be determined by a fair reading and interpretation of the entire specification.
Dry gas such as substantially dry air, substantially dry CO2, substantially dry nitrogen, and other substantially dry gases with a very low dew point temperature can cause extreme cooling as is evidenced by weather patterns that are predominantly driven by the humidity of air and heat energy available in the atmosphere. Not surprisingly, dry air can result in dramatic snow and ice formation, in turn resulting in extreme weather patterns across the world. It is not surprising that lip-balm used for dry lips sells well in winter. From hurricanes to tornadoes, to heavy snow storms, and icy winter storms, nature has provided an amazing electromotive heat transport means that can be emulated to assist in cooling a beverage and a food product using humidification and dehumidification of air. It is my theory that the tremendous vacuous energies of a tornado are a result of the sudden condensation of water vapor from the dehumidification of humidified dry air. Water vapor is 1840 times the volume of the same weight of liquid water, and so when a huge cloud condenses, a tremendous reduction in volume is obtained resulting a vacuum which appears as a funnel cloud of a tornado. No simple wind motion can generate such tremendous energies. Similarly, the humidification of very dry air results in very cold temperatures that results in snow storms. This happens as moisture is picked up by dry air and evaporated to remove heat from the surrounding environment followed by saturation of the same wet air which again deposits its vapor as moisture in the cold environment as snow and hail in the cold environment it has created.
Water has the best thermodynamic potential to cool a food product. It has the highest heat of evaporation and as such it can be used in combination with electromotive drying and regenerative processes that also rely on water molecules to cool a food product container. However, water does not easily evaporate due its high heat of evaporation and as such it must be “enticed” to do so by an appropriate means. Further, as water cools, for example in an endothermic reaction, and in a desiccant evaporation system, it becomes more and more difficult to evaporate it. Thus, neither endothermic cooling nor conventional desiccant cooling systems of prior art by themselves prove to be the most efficient forms of cooling a food product such as beverage. The combination of dry gas mediation, and other cooling methods can use the two fundamental substances, water and dry gas to effectively increase the thermodynamic potential to cool a food product.
The following definitions are generally used to described some terms used in the present disclosure to describe this invention.
“food product container” shall mean a food product container either made from metal or made from plastic and containing a food or beverage product as used by the invention.
“food product” shall mean any substance that is a consumable item preferably a liquid beverage;
“inward facing” shall mean pointing in the direction of the food product;
“outward facing” shall mean pointing in the direction away from the food product;
“dew point temperature” shall mean the temperature at which the vapor of a humidification liquid in a sample of dry gas at constant barometric pressure condenses into humidification liquid at the same rate at which it evaporates.
“Compartment forming sleeve member” for the purposes of this application shall mean a cup-like container with thin walls and made from one of plastic and metal.
“Covering sleeve member” for the purposes of this application shall mean a cup-like container with thin walls and made from one of plastic and metal.
“Protuberating” for the purposes of this application shall mean
“humidification liquid” for the purposes of this application shall mean any liquid that is used to evaporate and cool itself.
“dry gas” shall mean a gas having a substantially low dew point temperature for a particular humidification liquid with a substantially low partial vapor pressure for said humidification liquid that approaches a vacuum with a dew point temperature less than 10° f for said humidification liquid. Thus a dry gas can be dry for humidification liquid and still be a wet gas in relation to another liquid.
“humidification liquid vapor” for the purposes of this application shall mean the vapor of any humidification liquid.
“inward facing” for the purposes of this application shall mean any structure facing toward the food product container side wall. Thus an inward facing undulation will make distinct compartments with surfaces they surround and touch tangentially.
“outward facing” for the purposes of this application shall mean any structure facing away the food product container side wall.
“distinct compartment” for the purposes of this application shall mean a space bounded by protuberances and two surfaces that contact said protuberances.
“protuberances” for the purposes of this application shall mean any curvilinear and linear protrusions from a wall including undulations of the wall that are inward facing and that are outward facing. Thus outward facing protuberances can form distinct compartments with surfaces that surround and contact said outward facing protuberances and inward facing protuberances can form distinct compartments with surfaces that they surround and contact said inward facing protuberances.
“heat transport means” for the purposes of this application shall mean a thermodynamic and electromotive potential to exchange heat between substances;
“sealing structure” for the purposes of this application shall mean any structure that forms a seal between two walls.
“chamber” for the purposes of this application shall mean shall means a space sealed by one or more sealing structures.
“Cup-like” for the purposes of this application shall mean a structure shaped like a cup having a closed end and an opposing open end separated by a cylindrical wall.
“Heat-shrinkable” for the purposes of this application shall mean a material that forms surfaces whose areas can be shrunk by heating.
“sealing portion” for the purposes of this application shall mean a part of a wall that can form a seal with another wall.
“wider” for the purposes of this application shall mean having dimensions greater than;
“pressure difference” for the purposes of this application shall mean a difference in pressure between two fluids separated by a dry gas seal including a difference in pressure due to gravitational height differences between said two said fluids. It is anticipated that any one of such two fluids are contained in a chamber and may have a higher pressure than the other.
“ions” for the purposes of this application shall mean an atom or molecule that has a non-zero net electrical charge;
“chemical compound” for the purposes of this application shall mean any chemical compounds that can react with one another to cool endothermically and that can dissolve in humidification liquid such as water to form ions from its elements or a combination of its elements thereof and cool endothermically.
“compartment forming sleeve member” for the purposes of this application shall mean a thin walled cylindrical structure that can take the form of preferably a thin walled cup and possibly a cylinder made from a non-permeable barrier material such as plastic and aluminum;
“food product” for the purposes of this application shall mean any substance that is a consumable item, preferably a liquid beverage;
“food product container” shall mean any food product container made from metal or plastic that can store a food or beverage;
“dry gas” for the purposes of this application shall mean a gas having little or no humidification liquid in it, with a substantially low partial water vapor pressure approaching vacuum with a dew point temperature less than 10° f. It is noted that the dry gas itself could be liquefied;
“wet gas” for the purposes of this application shall mean a dry gas humidified to have a higher water vapor pressure tha dry gas and a dew point temperature greater than 10° f.
“low vapor pressure medium” for the purposes of this application shall mean any condition that results in an extremely rare medium, such a dry gas, a vacuum, or a low partial vapor pressure medium;
“dry gas chamber” for the purposes of this application is a functional structure that preferably contains and delivers a dry gas and may hold other structures within it.
“PVC” shall mean heat-shrinkable polyvinyl chloride.
“PET” shall mean heat-shrinkable polyethylene tetraphthalate.
“ionizable” shall describe any compound that can be dissolved in water to form ions from its elements or a combination of its elements thereof.
“vapor absorber” for the purposes of this application shall mean any substance or combination of substances that can absorb humidification liquid vapor as defined herein.
“plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber” for the purposes of this application shall mean any substance or combination of substances that can absorb humidification liquid vapor and generate heat of condensation of said humidification liquid vapor for heat-shrinking a heat-shrinkable plastic.
“sealing wax” for the purposes of this application shall mean any wax that is insoluble in humidification liquid.
“thermal wax” for the purposes of this application shall mean any wax that has a melt point temperature of least above ambient temperature.
“reacting chemical compound” shall mean at least hydrated chemical compound that reacts with another chemical compound to provide endothermic cooling and reaction released humidification liquid by said reaction.
“dissolving chemical compound” shall mean a chemical compound that dissolves in a humidification liquid and provides endothermic cooling of said humidification liquid by its ionization.
“upright” for the purposes of this application shall mean vertical orientation.
For orientation purposes and clarity, the food product container is assumed to be standing in an upright, vertical orientation with the food product container's bottom resting on a horizontal plane.
This invention can also use the thermodynamic potential of the evaporation of a humidification liquid such as water, water-ethanol azeotropes, dimethyl ether-water azeotropes, or a suitable liquid and the ability of a substantially low vapor pressure medium such as a dry gas to force this evaporation from even cold liquids. To do this, a standard food product container such as a can or a bottle is provided. Food product container is preferably a cylindrical beverage food product container of standard design, and with standard food product release means and a standard food product release port.
In a first embodiment of the invention, a food product container is provided with a simple adhesive backed rectangular one of metal strip and plastic strip attached to the food product container side wall to provide for a seal breaking structure. The seal breaking structure may also be inwardly disposed as an indentation made on the food product container side wall but preferably the Seal breaking structure may be provided as a thick self-adhesive plastic strip attached to acts as a disruption of the smoothness of the food product container side wall. Seal breaking structure is provided for disrupting the seal made by a Dry Gas Seal as a sealing structure on the food product container side wall.
A covering sleeve member seal is provided as a sealing structure in the form of one of a ring structure made from one of an O-ring seal, a rubber band seal, a putty seal, and sealing wax seal, a glue bonding agent and shaped in the form of a thin loop. In the case when it is a rubber band, it is the type that is commonly used to hold multiple objects together such as a stack of papers. In the case when it is an O-ring, it is the type of rubber seal that is conventionally used for sealing purposes between surfaces. Covering sleeve member seal circumscribes the food product container side wall with cross sectional dimensions preferably less than 4 mm. Preferably covering sleeve member seal is expandable to form a tight sealing band around the food product container. If made from sealing wax, covering sleeve member seal should be formed on the food product container side wall at the appropriate location as defined herein. For example, in the case when it is one of a rubber band and an O-ring, the loop diameter of covering sleeve member seal is expandable and covering sleeve member seal is placed circumferentially to hold tightly around the food product container top wall seam in a plane parallel to the diametric plane of the food product container and close to the food product container top wall.
A dry gas seal is also provided, once again in the form of one of a ring structure made from an O-ring seal, a rubber band seal, a putty seal, and sealing wax seal, a glue bonding agent and shaped in the form of a thin loop. Dry gas seal circumscribes the food product container side wall and should have a cross sectional dimensions preferably less than 4 mm in width. Where the dry gas seal is a rubber band, it is expanded to form a band around the food product container side wall. If made from sealing wax, dry gas seal should be formed on the food product container side wall at the appropriate location. When a rubber band is used, dry gas seal is placed circumferentially and to hold sealing tight around the food product container side wall in a plane angled to the diametric plane of the food product container. The minimal distal separation of the dry gas seal below the covering sleeve member seal is preferably about 20 mm.
Before the apparatus is used, seal breaking structure is located between the dry gas seal and the covering sleeve member seal.
A compartment forming sleeve member is provided, and in a first embodiment, the compartment forming sleeve member preferably is made from a thin material such as plastic, rubber, cardboard and aluminum, with a compartment forming sleeve member wall having a wick material made from one of cotton, woven meshes, absorptive paper, and absorptive cardboard laminated on said compartment forming sleeve member wall. Preferably compartment forming sleeve member is made from thin plastic material and formed by compressive molding, heat-shrinking, injection stretch-blowing and by injection molding.
The compartment forming sleeve member has a compartment forming sleeve member side wall with surface protuberances on the inside surface and on the outside surface such as the protuberances shown in
The compartment forming sleeve member could also be made as a cylindrical wall with protuberating that provide structural support and also provide for the holding of solutions and permit the free passage of dry gas to evaporate humidification liquid in the dry gas chamber. Preferably, the compartment forming sleeve member is a heat-shrinkable plastic sleeve with a wicking material attached to its surfaces to permit it to absorb humidification liquid and hold enough humidification liquid by osmotic pressure without spilling it.
In the first embodiment of the invention, the compartment forming sleeve member circumferentially surrounds the food product container side wall at least in part in areas below the dry gas seal and it is held in place by using with one of a glue, tape, and by friction against the food product container side wall. Preferably, the compartment forming sleeve member surrounds to cover in part the exposed surface of the food product container side wall below the dry gas seal and extend to surround the food product container bottom edge as a cup-like structure.
A covering sleeve member is provided which preferably is made from one of a heat-shrinkable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and poly vinyl chloride (PVC), to form a heat-shrinkable thin-walled cup-like sleeve that encases in whole or in part the food product container. Preferably, the covering sleeve member has a covering sleeve member side wall that can take on a variety of shapes but must have cylindrical sealing portions that permit it to mate sealingly with portions of the food product container side wall as described in the paragraphs and pages which follow. Covering sleeve member can also have the inward facing protuberances of the compartment forming sleeve member can mate tangentially with a food product container side wall to form outward facing distinct compartments consisting of the outward facing protuberances around the food product container side wall to hold chemical compounds and permit humidification liquid held in the outward facing distinct compartments formed with the food product container side wall to store said chemical compounds for endothermic reactions only. The covering sleeve member side wall is the outside covering of the apparatus and covers in whole the compartment forming sleeve member and the sealed food product container containing a food product below the food product container top wall and forms in part the inward facing wall of the dry gas chamber and the humidification liquid chamber wall in part. The covering sleeve member side wall is preferably made with plastic materials such as heat-shrinkable PET and heat-shrinkable PVC that can be reshaped in portions by heat-shrinking when heat is applied to those portions. The covering sleeve member side wall preferably covers in-part the food product container side wall and may extend to cover in part the food product container top wall. The covering sleeve member side wall just fits to cover and surround the compartment forming sleeve member. Since the compartment forming sleeve member has outward facing protuberances that tangentially touch the inward facing surface of the covering sleeve member side wall it forms a part of the dry gas chamber that can have a multitude of distinct compartments formed by the inward facing protuberances with the covering sleeve member side wall.
Should the covering sleeve member side wall extend and cover most or all of the food product container top wall, then an extension grip made from a simple plastic ring may be added and snapped to the food product container top wall seam to permit a user to be able to grip and rotate extension grip and thus rotate the food product container relative to the covering sleeve member. As shown in
The covering sleeve member side wall covers over the attached compartment forming sleeve member and covers in-whole or in-part the food product container. Covering sleeve member side wall has a covering sleeve member sealing portion that can be heat-shrunk to shrink in diameter to seal against the food product container side wall to form a seal. It is anticipated that the covering sleeve member side wall end is located at the covering sleeve member sealing portion, but it is contemplated that the covering sleeve member side wall end may extend beyond the covering sleeve member sealing portion. When the covering sleeve member sealing portion is heat shrunk, the covering sleeve member side wall applies pressure and clamps around the surface of covering sleeve member seal on the food product container side wall, and also applies pressure and clamps around the surface of the dry gas seal on the food product container side wall to form the humidification liquid chamber between the food product container side wall and the covering sleeve member side wall.
As stated above, the covering sleeve member is rotatable relative to the food product container side wall. Thus, advantageously, the dry gas seal and the covering sleeve member seal rotate with covering sleeve member in unison relative to the food product container side wall. It is anticipated that the covering sleeve member side wall deforms by compressive heat-shrinking around the covering sleeve member seal to securely hold the covering sleeve member seal and provide for the same to sealingly rotate with covering sleeve member. However, it is also anticipated that covering sleeve member may be made from thin aluminum that can be spun-shaped and then formed to securely hold the covering sleeve member seal and provide for the same to sealingly rotate with covering sleeve member. It is anticipated that the covering sleeve member side wall partially deforms by compression around the dry gas seal to securely hold the dry gas seal and provide for the same to sealing rotate with covering sleeve member against the food product container side wall. However, it is also anticipated that covering sleeve member may be made from thin aluminum that can be spun-shaped to securely hold the covering sleeve member seal and provide for the same to sealingly rotate with covering sleeve member. It is also anticipated that covering sleeve member seal is symmetrically placed with respect to the rotation forces of covering seal and may not rotate with the covering sleeve member but nevertheless forms a seal between covering seal and the food product container side wall. However, the dry gas seal is not symmetric with respect to rotation of the covering sleeve member and as such it is anticipated that dry gas seal must rotate in unison with the covering sleeve member relative to the food product container side wall.
The covering sleeve member side wall can either be heat-shrunk (if made from one of heat shrink PET or heat shrink PVC) or one of crimped and spin-formed using rollers (if made from aluminum) to compress and to seal against the covering sleeve member seal as stated above. Covering sleeve member side wall can be strengthened by protuberances such as by ribbing, undulations, and circumferentially grooving it for example, to provide for strength, surface area, and permit a variety of distinct ionizable chemical compounds to be stored exclusively in distinct compartments between inward facing protuberances, and to also permit easy passage of dry gas and vapor. Covering sleeve member side wall has a covering sleeve member sealing portion that is used to form a sealing surface with covering sleeve member seal. The covering sleeve member sealing portion, when shrunk to seal against the dry gas seal presses it against the food product container side wall to form a fluid seal. When the covering sleeve member sealing portion is shrunk to clamp and seal on the surface of dry gas seal it forms a rotatable seal between the food product container side wall and covering sleeve member. It is anticipated that covering sleeve member sealing portion partially deforms around the covering sleeve member seal to securely hold the covering sleeve member seal and provide for the same to rotate with covering sleeve member. It is anticipated that covering sleeve member side wall also partially deforms around the dry gas seal to securely hold the dry gas seal and provide for the same to sealingly rotate with covering sleeve member when rotated. This provides an actuating means when covering sleeve member is rotated.
The inward facing surface of the covering sleeve member side wall in part, the dry gas seal, the covering sleeve member seal, and the outward surface of the food product container side wall in part, together form a humidification liquid chamber. Humidification liquid is sealingly stored in the humidification liquid chamber. It is anticipated that the humidification liquid can also be a pressurized liquefied gas.
The covering sleeve member side wall has a covering sleeve member restriction portion that clamps against the wick on the compartment forming sleeve member to form a restricted vapor passageway for humidification liquid vapor and dry gas to pass through in a controlled manner. When the compartment forming sleeve member restriction portion is clamped around the surface of the wick it forms a rotatable restricted vapor passageway. It is anticipated that the covering sleeve member side wall slidingly rotates over the restricted vapor passageway when rotated without deforming or rotating the restricted vapor passageway and the compartment forming sleeve member itself. The covering sleeve member is made with a covering sleeve member bottom wall that sealingly connects to the covering sleeve member side wall. Covering sleeve member bottom wall turns to sealingly connect to an inwardly bowed covering sleeve member annular wall preferably forming a frustoconical shape. The covering sleeve member annular wall may also take a partial-hemispherical dome shape, a cylindroid shape and other forms such as a reversed-frustoconical shape, i.e. having a larger closed end diameter at its top wall than at its open end. The dry gas chamber is the chamber formed inside the covering sleeve member below the dry gas seal.
Thus according to a first embodiment of the invention, the dry gas chamber is below the humidification liquid chamber and contains the food product container and the compartment forming sleeve member attached. It is anticipated that covering sleeve member may be made from spun or deep drawn aluminum and formed to provide for all the sealing required by spin forming and rolling it in parts. In such a case, covering sleeve member annular wall may be made from one of heat-shrinkable injection stretch blown PET and Polyolefin material and PVC material and then joined to the covering sleeve member bottom wall by ultrasonic welding or gluing.
A thin-walled, open ended support cylinder, with support cylinder holes close to its top end, is placed to rest at the opposite open end on the covering sleeve member bottom wall between the covering sleeve member side wall and the covering sleeve member annular wall and to contact the food product container bottom edge.
The annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space is defined within the within the dry gas chamber between the inner surface of the support cylinder, inner surface covering sleeve member annular wall and the inner surface covering sleeve member bottom wall. An annular thermal wax retention space is also defined in the dry gas chamber between the outer surface of the support cylinder, the inner surface of the covering sleeve member annular wall and the inner surface of the covering sleeve member bottom wall. The annular thermal wax retention space may be filled with a suitable thermal wax that melts at temperatures ranging from 70° f to 160° f. Support cylinder prevents the covering sleeve member bottom wall from collapsing and deforming its shape relative to food product container, and also shields the hand of a user gripping the apparatus from excessive heat. The thermal wax 138 may be eliminated and replaced with a dry gas.
Several cooling actuation means and cooling actuation means stages are provided. The first is triggered when covering sleeve member is rotated relative to the food product container side wall, which causes the dry gas seal and dry gas seal sits over a seal breaking structure provided, to permit fluid communication between the exposed humidification liquid from the humidification liquid chamber and the dry gas chamber. The second cooling actuation means and second cooling actuation means stage is provided as well. A deformable ring structure seal preferably made from one of an O-ring seal, a metal seal, a rubber band seal, a putty seal, and sealing wax seal, a glue bonding agent and shaped in the form of a thin loop forms the dry gas seal, a deformable material being preferred. Depressing the covering sleeve member over the dry gas seal and thereby deforming its shape permits humidification liquid from the humidification liquid chamber to leak and enter the dry gas chamber where it can ionize chemical compounds and at the same time evaporate into the dry gas. A good result is also achieved if dry gas seal is made from a deformable structure such as a thin metal band layered with either a sealing wax material or a sealing putty material.
The compartment forming sleeve member is preferably made with protuberances forming distinct compartments with the food product container side wall and also with the covering sleeve member side wall to provide strength, surface area, and permit a variety of distinct chemical compounds to be stored exclusively in distinct compartments between any of said protuberances.
The annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space holds a plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber such as a silica gel and forms of absorbers described in table 1. Annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space is a stretch-formed heat-shrinkable portion of covering sleeve member. If covering sleeve member is made from aluminum, then covering sleeve member annular wall must be made as a separate item made from one of heat-shrinkable PET and heat-shrinkable PVC and the attached by a suitable glue to the covering sleeve member bottom wall. The covering sleeve member annular wall responds to an increase in temperature by deforming and shrinking and flattening to increase the volume of the dry gas chamber. This deformation is caused by the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber heating up as it absorbs humidification liquid vapor from the dry gas.
The covering sleeve member annular wall preferably forms a shape that intrudes into the volume of the dry gas chamber. The protruded shape of the covering sleeve member annular wall is important in enhancing the functioning of the apparatus. The shape of covering sleeve member annular wall can be an inverted cup, a dome, and preferably any suitable shape that minimizes the volume of the equivalent cylindrical volume formed by just the covering sleeve member side wall with a flat bottom. The shape of covering sleeve member annular wall must initially minimize the dry gas chamber's volume and then maximize its intrusion into the dry gas chamber when heated. In the examples shown in the figures, the shape of the covering sleeve member annular wall forms an inverted cup-like shape and a dome. Advantageously, the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space is in fluid communication with dry gas. When the apparatus cooling actuation means is activated, the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber heats up the covering sleeve member annular wall. When heated, the covering sleeve member annular wall shrinks and minimizes its area. The annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space contracts and moves outwardly from the food product container domed bottom wall and causes the volume of the dry gas chamber to increase and generate a substantial negative pressure on dry gas. This lowers the partial vapor pressure of the dry gas and the partial vapor pressure of any humidification liquid vapor in the dry gas chamber and thus in the compartment forming sleeve member.
It is anticipated that compartment forming sleeve member may also be made from one of pressure-formed and deep drawn aluminum. It is anticipated that the compartment forming sleeve member side wall can be layered with a wick material that is made to just hold humidification liquid without spilling the same when it receives it. The inward facing protuberances and the outward facing protuberances can be formed by first making the compartment forming sleeve member side walls as a cylinder, then placing its cylindrical wall over a mold and heat-shrinking it to form the inward facing protuberances and the outward facing protuberances. Preferably, the inward facing protuberances tangentially touch the food product container side wall and the outward facing protuberances form a multitude of distinct compartments with the food product container side wall to hold either chemical compounds or humidification liquid against the food product container side wall. The outward facing protuberances also tangentially touch the covering sleeve member side wall and the inward facing protuberances form a multitude of distinct compartments with the covering sleeve member side wall to permit fluid communication with the dry gas.
In all embodiments, it is anticipated that the walls of the compartment forming sleeve member walls may also be infused or layered with ionizable chemical compounds that have reversible endothermic entropy-increasing reactions with the humidification liquid. The compartment forming sleeve member can be heat-shrunk to form its shape by hot-spraying it with a stream of particulates of ionizable chemical compounds at high impact pressure as it is thermally shrunk to form its shape on a mold. In all cases, the compartment forming sleeve member must have a vapor passageway formed by its outer surface walls and the covering sleeve member side wall to only permit vapor to pass through to the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber. This is easily achieved in the case of a film material forming the compartment forming sleeve member by banding a vapor wicking material over the compartment forming sleeve member restriction portion.
Other methods of inserting ionizable soluble salts into the compartment forming sleeve member include using a soluble material such as poly vinyl acetate (PVA), layered on the outside wall of the compartment forming sleeve member and then attaching the ionizable chemical compounds to the PVA layer. Other laminating materials such as water soluble glues may be used for this purpose. A dry gas is provided in the dry gas chamber preferably at just below ambient atmospheric pressure.
Extremely dry gas such dry air and dry co2 is provided. The dry gas can be stored at moderate pressure at room temperature. Dry gas can be easily manufactured using either a pressure precipitation system, and by using a cooling system, or a desiccant stack to remove humidification liquid vapor from the wet gas. Dry gas when stored within the dry gas chamber, acts as if said dry gas chamber is evacuated for the purposes of humidification liquid introduced to said dry gas chamber. This is because dry gas has such a low humidification liquid vapor pressure that it can be said to be a vacuous partial humidification liquid partial vapor pressure. In a closed food product container, when exposed to humidification liquid vapor, a dry gas cools by absorbing humidification liquid vapor from its environment in the same manner that water evaporates when exposed to a vacuum. However, since a dry gas carries humidification liquid vapor within its molecular structure as electrostatically bound vapor, it does not permit easy condensation of humidification liquid vapor on surfaces that are above its dew point temperature. This results in a heat transport means that can be understood if one compares what happens to an evacuated gas and its temperature relations to pressure. Dry gas has component molecules of moisture that can only exert a low partial humidification liquid vapor pressure and acts as if it's vapor is in a vacuum. This interstitial molecular sieving of dry gas's potential is a measure of its relative dew point temperature with respect to humidification liquid vapor which like an evacuated gas in a negative temperature in relation to wet gas at room temperature. The partial vapor pressure of the humidification liquid vapor in dry gas is very low, and as such the moisture behaves as if it is suspended in a vacuum when exposed to dry gas. Thus, any action performed by a dry gas in the practice of this invention is equivalent to actions that take place in an evacuated environment for humidification liquid vapor except for the fact that a vacuum environment will evaporate humidification liquid and humidification liquid vapor may condense on cold surfaces that are cooler than the vapor's temperature. Dry gas is an electromotive transport means. This is justified by the fact that the dry gas acts as phonons with definite discrete unit or quantum of vibrational mechanical energy. Phonons and electrons are the two main types of elementary particle excitations central to thermal energy contributing to heat capacity. The removal of polar humidification liquid vapor molecules such as water molecules in vapor form into dry gas is due to an electromotive heat transport potential. Dry gas hyperpnoea is known to change airway reactivity and ion content of rabbit tracheal side (respir physiol. 1997 July; 109 (1):65-72). In the paper entitled, “the nature of gas ions”, it is shown that the negative ions in a dry gas are in general a cluster of molecules which for a certain range of electric forces and pressures passes through a transition stage until finally, the negative carriers are practically all electrons, [nature 95, 230-231 (29 Apr. 1915) doi:10.1038/095230b0]. In the book “conduction of electricity through gases”, (Cambridge university press), it is shown that the excess of the velocity of diffusion of the negative ions over that of the positive is much greater when the gas is dry than when it is moist. Thus dry gas is an electromotive heat transport means. Dry gas essential is therefore superior to a vacuum when it comes to the evaporation of humidification liquid and there is a low partial humidification liquid vapor pressure at any achievable surface temperature of a cooling device especially if the dry gas relative dew point with respect to humidification liquid vapor is in the range below the formation of a solid from the humidification liquid. In the case of water vapor, it is below 32° f. In polymer electromotive membranes (PEM) such as Nafion®, a hydrophobic Teflon-like backbone is used with a sulfonic end group attached to electromotive transport moisture through a membrane. Poly vinyl acetate (PVA) containing membranes are also used for the purposes of filtration of ions from a solution. The vapor pressure of humidification liquid vapor is gradated in such chemicals to generated the flow as for example, thirsty molecules of Nafion® keep pulling humidification liquid vapor deeper and deeper through their structure by electromotive heat transport. Dry gas behaves in a similar fashion, by generating a spherical gradient of dry gas to transport humidification liquid vapor and equilibrate vapor pressure of the humidification liquid vapor.
The potential to remove humidification liquid such as water from the dry gas can result in dew points between 10° f and −150° f. Thus any humidification liquid that is above these temperatures has a tendency to be absorbed by the dry gas that is below its dew point temperature. This potential for dry gas and specially designed wicking layers to absorb humidification liquid from cold surfaces can be exploited with several cooling processes to generate a continuous process that results in far more efficient cooling that could otherwise be achieved with either desiccants and vacuums or stoichiometric endothermic reactions. For example, to cool 16 oz of beverage by 30° f one needs to dissolve at least 127 g of potassium chloride in about 380 g of water using conventional prior art. This is not commercially viable in a self-cooling food product container technology that relies only on this process. This invention can in one mode use far less ionizable compounds (67 g) in one mode with 100 g of humidification liquid and regenerate the ionizable compounds for reuse. For example, ion exchange compounds and other types of electrochemical and electromotive membranes such as PEM, absorb water vapor and preferentially cool by transmitting protons through their structure, converting liquid to transmitted vapors. The compartment forming sleeve member can be manufactured from similar materials such as ion exchange film materials to act in a similar fashion transmitting water formed by reactions of the chemicals in the humidification liquid chamber to further cool. The dry gas in the dry gas chamber can interact multiple times with humidification liquid vapor in the dry gas chamber to humidify and further cool.
Given a beverage mass of mb, the heat capacity cp, the heat to be removed to bring about a temperature change of Δt, is given by
Q
c
=m
b
c
p
Δt,
The amount of water (kg/sec) evaporated from an area of exposure to dry gas at temperature equal to the water and with starting humidity ratio, xs=0.005, (kg of H2O per kg of dry gas), to generate water with a relative humidity ratio, x=0.02, is given by the empirical formula (the 2003 Ashrae handbook-HVAC Applications), (Ashrae 2003), (Shah 1990, 1992, 2002):
g=θA
x
−x
Where, θ=(25+19v), and v is the velocity of the gas flow.
As an example using dry air, substantial calculations show that for a flow rate of 1 m/sec of air for 45 seconds of flow at a starting relative humidity of 0.005 and an exposure area of about 225 cm2, (6″×6″ cooling matrix), the approximate rate of removal of water is equal to 0.158 g/sec. The total heat required to raise 7.8 g water from a room temperature of 22° C. to a vapor is given by dry gas is given by:
E
Total
=E
h
+E
v
Where, Eh Is the energy used to heat the water and Ev Is the energy required to evaporate the water at 100° c.
This translates 17,615 joules of energy per cooling matrix removed by dry gas only. Only 54,790 joules of energy are required to cool 453 g (16 fluid oz.) Of beverage by 20° C. from room temperature. Thus if no endothermic actions occur, only two (2) second wicking layers may be required in the cooling matrices even though many more can be added. It is evident there is a lot of thermodynamic potential stored between the dry gas for heat H removal. Dry Air, CO2, and nitrogen have very similar thermodynamic behavior for humidification processes. As such dry air is not the only gas that can be used for this purpose. Any suitable extremely dry gases such as dry CO2 will suffice as long as its dew point can be adequately lowered to be thermodynamically acceptable.
Studies published by W. W. Mansfield in Nature (205, 278 (16 Jan. 1965); DOI:10.1038/205278A0) entitled the “Effect of carbon dioxide on evaporation of water”, and studies published by Frank Sechrist, in nature (199, 899-900; 31 Aug. 1963), entitled “Influence of gases on the rate of evaporation of water” show that water containing dissolved carbon dioxide, or surrounded by an atmosphere of this gas, evaporated 15-50 percent more rapidly than water in the presence of just air. Thus, advantageously, the use of a dry gases such as CO2, which is already found in carbonated beverages, can definitely increase the cooling capacity of dry gases on water.
The present invention differs from all the cited prior art and discloses a novel technology for cooling bottles and cans (metal and plastic beverage food product containers) with a label like structure with the additional aspect of using electromotive heat transport means of vapors through to progressively cool a beverage by multiple means. The cost of manufacture is now only limited by the cost of the covering sleeve member, the cost of the compartment forming sleeve member, the cost of chemical components, and the cost of the processes used to manufacture the apparatus.
Dry gas can also transport water vapor from cold solutions in an electrolyte invasion process to dehydrate these ionic solutions and permit solutes to be active again for further use of their thermodynamic potential. The dry gas will not only cool, but also permit the stoichiometric imbalance of reusing solutes to further perform cooling. The invention can be practiced with only dry gas and a dry gas chamber without chemicals. For example, the humidification liquid can be generated by the chemical reactions of water donating hydrated chemicals in the dry gas chamber. This produced humidification liquid can be evaporated and absorbed by the dry gas to further cool. Further, the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber keeps the dry gas dry within the dry gas chamber. Humidification liquid vapor absorbed by dry gas can be sorbed into plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber to lower the vapor pressure of the humidification liquid chamber and cause further evaporation and cooling of the humidification liquid held between the compartment forming sleeve member and the food product container side wall, which in turn cools the food product.
Removal of the absorbed humidification liquid vapor from the wet dry gas by the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber permits the dry gas to be refurbished and used again without a need for a large volume of dry gas in the dry gas chamber and without the need for a vacuum. Thus, the present invention has several advantages in methods and function over evaporative, endothermic and desiccant-vacuum systems disclosed in prior art.
A second embodiment of the invention is shown in
A third embodiment of the invention is shown in
A fourth embodiment of the invention is shown in
In a fifth embodiment of the invention, no covering sleeve member is required. As before, a food product container is provided with a compartment forming sleeve member with a compartment forming sleeve member side wall that has surface protuberances preferably on the inside surface as shown in
The compartment forming sleeve member has a compartment forming sleeve member sealing portion which can be made to seal against the food product container side wall to form a fluid seal around the inward facing protuberances of the compartment forming sleeve member side wall mate tangentially with a food product container side wall. When the compartment forming sleeve member sealing portion is sealed against the surface of the food product container side wall the closed space forms a humidification liquid chamber which holds reacting chemical compounds and dissolving chemical compounds in between the compartment forming sleeve member the food product container side wall.
A cooling actuation means 41 is provided as shown in
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of cooling a food product container using a novel heat transport means to remove heat from a food product using dry gas as an ion reformation agent that causes reformation of solutes from their ions in solution to their original non-ionic states to be reused again multiple times for the same purpose.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of assembling the self-cooling a food product container in its completed form with a food product such as a beverage therein with a dry gas heat transport means to cool said food product container.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a self-cooling apparatus for cooling a food product container using a conventional filled and sealed food product container in its completed form using endothermic ionization of chemical compounds with water to further cool a food product.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus to that uses the humidification of a substantially dry gas to evaporate water from solutions of ionized chemicals compounds to regenerate said ionized compounds in a non-ionic form again to further ionize them to further cool a food product endothermically.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus to that uses the humidification of a substantially dry gas to evaporate water from solutions formed by reacting chemicals compounds that react endothermically to cool and reaction released humidification liquid such as water, and to use dry gas and a vapor absorber to further cool by evaporation.
It is finally an object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus which is thermodynamically simple, viable and cost effective of removing heat from and thereby cooling a food product.
The present invention accomplishes the above-stated objectives, as well as others, as may be determined by a fair reading and interpretation of the entire specification.
Accordingly, the present invention can achieve much more cooling including the following:
a) Remove and evaporate water vapor from cold solutions to increase cooling;
b) Dehydrate ionized compounds with negative entropy of solution back to their original ionizable compound states to reuse them over again for more cooling (conservation of ionizable compounds);
c) Remove heat of evaporation from a cold solution but also any reversible reformation energy of compounds from ionic solutions to prevent a reheating by the reversal of heat of formation of said ions from solution.
d) To evaporate water vapor from reaction-formed water using a dry gas to take away more heat and clean vapor to further cool.
e) To automatically rarify dry gas by deformation of an annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space to increase the volume of the dry gas chamber and effectuate rarefication of a dry gas and cause even more evaporation of humidification liquid by lowering the partial vapor pressure of the same.
Heat Transport Means
The first heat transport means disclosed in this invention uses a substantially dry gas as a medium for regenerating ionic states from a solution of the humidification liquid and solutes forming ions for reuse again. This achieves the following:
a) A cooling by ionizing compounds that dissolve in humidification liquid that enters into the dry gas chamber;
b) Further cooling by dry gas reconstituting and reforming the ionizable compounds in a reversible salting of humidification liquid to deplete the solvent of the solution and dry solutes for reuse with more humidification liquid entering the dry gas chamber to achieve more of the same by reusing regenerated solutes of demineralization to further ionize and cool again and repeat the cooling cycle.
c) More cooling by evaporation of the humidification liquid of (a) or (b) by the dry gas.
The humidification liquid is preferably water and can also be a liquid with an ionizing potential for the ionizable chemical compounds or solutes.
The deposition of solutes by dry gas medium such as by dry gas removes the heat generated by demineralization as the humidified dry gas medium increasing its dew point temperature without heating up. Thus, there is no need to store a stoichiometric ratio of solvents such as humidification liquid and ionizable compounds Such as ionizable compounds to cool a beverage. The humidification liquid can be in excess of the ionizable compounds and the ionizable compounds will ionize multiple times through multiple mineralization and demineralization cycles. If the rate of solvation and the rate of demineralization of such solution is controlled, a dry gas will regenerate solutes for further solvation by removing the humidification liquid at a controlled rate from such a reaction and essentially transport this water vapor for reuse without reheating the cooling surfaces. The ions give off the same energy they are absorbed from the humidification liquid ions being broken. The efficiency is in the direct transfer of the bond energies from broken humidification liquid molecules to the reformation energy of humidification liquid vapor as a vapor that is immediately transported away or absorbed by dry gas humidification and taken away. An example using water is shown:
Where the product is a liquid with water, a quantity of the product itself can function as the humidification liquid such as water, if it does not react adversely with the solutes. Where the product is semi-solid or solid, a separate liquid which preferably is simply a suitable humidification liquid provided.
A food product container is provided, including a food product container having a release port and a release port opening means. The food product container preferably is one of a metal can and a plastic bottle. A dry gas is provided preferably one of air, nitrogen and carbon dioxide. The dry gas preferably has a dew point temperature in relation to humidification liquid vapor below 10° f.
Various other objects, advantages, and features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following discussion taken in conjunction with the following drawings representing the preferred embodiments of the invention, in which:
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure.
Reference is now made to the drawings, wherein like characteristics and features of the present invention shown in the various FIGURES are designated by the same reference numerals.
For orientation purposes and clarity, the food product container 20 is assumed to be standing in a vertical orientation with the food product container 20 standing in a normal placement orientation. This invention uses the thermodynamic potential of the evaporation of a humidification liquid hl, such as water or a suitable liquid and the ability of a substantially low vapor pressure medium such as a dry gas DG to force this evaporation from even cold liquids.
Referring to
A covering sleeve member seal 121 is provided in the form of a thin loop structure made from one of an O-ring seal, a metal band seal, a rubber band seal, a putty seal, and sealing wax seal, and a glue bonding agent. Preferably the covering sleeve member seal 121 is provided in the form a looped rubber band, usually ring shaped, and commonly used to hold multiple objects together such as for holding a stack of papers. Covering sleeve member seal 121 diameter preferably is about 75% of the perimeter that circumscribes the food product container 20. The covering sleeve member seal 121 cross-sectional dimensions preferably are less than 4 mm. The covering sleeve member seal 121 should form a tight sealing band around the food product container 20. The covering sleeve member seal 121 is placed circumferentially and sealingly tight around the food product container side wall 100 in a plane parallel to the diametric plane of the food product container 20 and close to the food product container top wall 107.
A dry gas seal 123 is provided preferably also in the form of an O-ring seal, a rubber band seal, a putty seal, and sealing wax seal, a glue bonding agent and shaped in the form of a thin loop, usually a ring structure. Preferably dry gas seal 123, is made from a seal material such as the type with a rectanguloid cross section, such as a rubber band commonly used to hold multiple objects together. The dry gas seal 123 cross-sectional dimensions preferably is less than 4 mm. The dry gas seal 123 is preferably expandable to form a tight seal around the food product container 20. The dry gas seal 123 is placed in a plane circumferentially slanted at a small angle relative to the diametric plane of the food product container 20. Since a round-sectioned seal will crawl and tend to symmetrize on the diametric plane of the food product container 20, a rectanguloid-sectioned seal is preferred but not necessary. The dry gas seal 123 is slanted at an angle relative to the relative to the diametric plane of the food product container 20 with a maximal distal separation of about 20 mm below covering sleeve member seal 121. The maximal separation between the covering sleeve member seal 121 and the dry gas seal 123 is dictated by the volume of space that can be formed between the two seals when the apparatus is completed as will be determined later. Seal breaking structure 122 is located between dry gas seal 123 and the covering sleeve member seal 121 before the apparatus 10 is used and should be almost tangent to the dry gas seal 123.
A compartment forming sleeve member 102 is provided with a compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 and compartment forming sleeve member bottom wall 106 and in a first embodiment, the compartment forming sleeve member 102 is preferably made from impermeable materials such as one of heat-shrinkable stretch-formed polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and heat-shrinkable stretch-formed polyethylene terephthalate (PET), injection molded plastics and rubbers. Other materials may be used depending on the way the compartment forming sleeve member 102 is fashioned. Outward facing surface of the compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 is preferably lined with a flexible wick 140 made from a wicking material such as one of cotton, porous plastic, woven mesh, absorptive paper, and wool. Compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 may be laminated with wick 140 on the inside surfaces also. Wick 140 must be thin to reduce its impact as a thermal mass on the functioning of the apparatus 10. Compartment forming sleeve member 102 can initially be formed with cylindrical compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 and then lined with the wick 140 and then molded into a variety of shapes by one of compressive molding and heat-shrinking to form projected protuberances on its surface. Otherwise its shape may be injection molded with the wick 140 placed inside the mold side walls to adhere to the compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105. For example, compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 is preferably made with inward facing protuberances 103 and outward facing protuberances 104 respectively on its walls to increase its surface area and provide for strength, surface area, and permit a variety of distinct chemical compounds to be stored between any of the spaces between the protuberances, as shown in
The compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 is circumferentially attached to frictionally touch tangentially contact the food product container side wall 100 to cover at least in part the food product container side wall 100 below dry gas seal 123. Ultrasonic welding, glues and tape may also be used to hold it firmly in place and to at least form distinct compartments with the food product container side wall 100. Preferably, the compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 extends to cover-in-part an exposed surface of the food product container side wall 100 below the dry gas seal 123, but it is anticipated that compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 may also cover and surround in whole the food product container side wall 100 below the dry gas seal 123, and that compartment forming sleeve member bottom wall 106 extend to cover and surround the food product container domed bottom wall 22 as a cup-like sleeve structure. Inward facing protuberances 103 and outward facing protuberances 104 should be sturdy and prevent compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 from collapsing under reduced pressures.
Covering sleeve member 30 is provided. Covering sleeve member 30 is preferably made from one of heat-shrinkable materials stretch-formed polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and other heat-shrinkable materials also in the form of a thin-walled cup-like structure that surrounds and encloses in whole or in part the food product container 20. Preferably, covering sleeve member 30 has covering sleeve member side wall 101 shaped to follow the contour of food product container side wall 100. Covering sleeve member side wall 101 can take on a variety of shapes but must permit said covering sleeve member side wall 101 to mate with portions of the food product container side wall 100 during the manufacturing process as will be described in the foregoing. The covering sleeve member side wall 101 covers in whole or in part a sealed food product container 20 containing a food product P. Covering sleeve member side wall 101 is preferably made from one of heat-shrinkable materials stretch-formed polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and other heat-shrinkable materials, however, covering sleeve member side wall 101 can also be made with thin aluminum material as a deep-drawn container, and must be re-formable by spin forming and crimping to form seals with the food product container 20. Covering sleeve member side wall 101 preferably covers in-part food product container side wall 100 and may extend to cover in part the food product container top wall 107. The covering sleeve member side wall 101 just slidingly fits over the compartment forming sleeve member 102. Should the covering sleeve member side wall 101 extend and cover the of the food product container top wall 107, then an extension grip 111 made from a simple plastic ring is provided to snap to the food product container top wall seam 114 to permit a user to be able to grip and rotate extension grip 111 and thus rotate the food product container 20 relative to the covering sleeve member 30.
The covering sleeve member side wall 101 covers over compartment forming sleeve member 102 and covers in-whole or in-part the food product container 20. Covering sleeve member side wall 101 preferably covers in-part food product container side wall 100 and may extend to cover in part the food product container top wall 107. Covering sleeve member side wall 101 has a covering sleeve member sealing portion 108 that can be heat-shrunk to shrink in diameter and seal against the food product container side wall 100 to form a covering sleeve member side wall seal 109. As shown in
It is anticipated that covering sleeve member side wall end 110 is located at the covering sleeve member sealing portion 108, but it is contemplated that the covering sleeve member side wall end 110 may extend beyond the covering sleeve member sealing portion 108. When the covering sleeve member sealing portion 108 is heat-shrunk or mechanically formed, covering sleeve member side wall 101 clamps around the surface of covering sleeve member seal 121 and dry gas seal 123 to form humidification liquid chamber W between the two seals respectively. Humidification liquid HL is sealingly stored between the humidification liquid chamber w.
The covering sleeve member 30 is rotatable relative to the food product container side wall 100. Thus, advantageously, dry gas seal 123 and covering sleeve member seal 121 rotate with covering sleeve member 30 in unison, relative to the food product container side wall 100. It is anticipated that covering sleeve member side wall 101 deforms by compressive shrinking around the covering sleeve member seal 121 to securely hold the covering sleeve member seal 121 and provide for the same to sealingly rotate with covering sleeve member 30. It is anticipated that covering sleeve member side wall 101 partially deforms by compressive shrinking around the covering sleeve member seal 121 to securely hold the covering sleeve member seal 121 and provide for the same to sealing rotate with covering sleeve member 30. However, it is anticipated that covering sleeve member seal 121 may not rotate with covering sleeve member 30 but still forms a seal. However, dry gas seal 123 must rotate in unison with covering sleeve member 30 relative to the food product container side wall 100.
Covering sleeve member side wall 101 has a covering sleeve member sealing portion 109 that can be heat shrunk or mechanically formed to shrink and seal against the food product container side wall 100 as stated above. Covering sleeve member side wall 101 when shrunk also seals against the dry gas seal 123, pressing the same against the food product container side wall 100 to form a seal. It is anticipated that covering sleeve member sealing portion 108 deforms partially around the covering sleeve member seal 121 to securely hold the covering sleeve member seal 121 and provide for the same to rotate with covering sleeve member 30. It is anticipated that covering sleeve member side wall 101 also partially deforms around the dry gas seal 123 to securely hold the dry gas seal 123 and provide for the same to sealingly rotate with covering sleeve member 30 when rotated. This provides a first cooling actuation means θ, when covering sleeve member 30 is rotated.
Covering sleeve member side wall 101 has a covering sleeve member restriction portion 128 that can one of be heat-shrunk and be mechanically formed to clamp against a portion of the compartment forming sleeve member 102 to form a restricted vapor passageway 129a for humidification liquid HL vapor Vw and dry gas DG to pass through in a controlled manner. It is anticipated that when the covering sleeve member restriction portion 128 is shrunk, it clamps firmly around the surface of compartment forming sleeve member 102 and closes off any protuberances or projections to form a rotatable restricted vapor passageway 129a. It is anticipated that covering sleeve member side wall 101 slidingly rotates over restricted vapor passageway 129a when rotated.
Covering sleeve member 30 has covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 that sealing connects to covering sleeve member side wall 101. Covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 sealing connects to an inward protruding covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133. Covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 is flexible and can respond to pressure changes by either collapsing or expanding.
Covering sleeve member inner surfaces define in part the dry gas chamber DGS which extends to cover the compartment forming sleeve member and the space formed by the covering sleeve member bottom wall 130, covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133.
It is anticipated that covering sleeve member 101 may also be made from one of spun aluminum, hydraulically formed aluminum and deep drawn aluminum to provide for all the sealing required. In such a case, covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 may also be made from one of heat-shrinkable PET and PVC material and added on to the covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 by ultrasonic welding or gluing. Covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 is flexible and can respond to pressure changes by either collapsing or expanding.
As shown in the figures, a thin-walled open ended support cylinder 132, with support cylinder holes 137 close to its top end may be placed to rest on the covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 between the covering sleeve member side wall 101 and the covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 and to act as a support member for the covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 against the food product container 20 to prevent shrinking forces from collapsing covering sleeve member bottom wall 130. Covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 is flexible and can respond to pressure changes by either collapsing or expanding.
Annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131 within the dry gas chamber DGS is formed between the space defined by the inner surface of the support cylinder 132, inner surface covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 and the inner surface covering sleeve member bottom wall 130. Annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131 is in fluid communication with the dry gas and is within dry gas chamber DGS. An annular thermal wax retention space 136 is also formed in the dry gas chamber DGS between the outer surface of the support cylinder 132, the inner surface of the covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 and the inner surface of the covering sleeve member bottom wall 130. Covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 is flexible and can respond to pressure changes by either collapsing or expanding. Annular thermal wax retention space 136 may be optionally filled with a suitable thermal wax 138 that can melt at temperatures ranging from 70° f to 160° f to regulate the amount of heat exposed to the covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133. Support cylinder 132 prevents the covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 from collapsing and deforming its shape relative to food product container 20.
A cooling actuation means θ is provided when covering sleeve member 30 is rotated with the dry gas seal 123 and dry gas seal 123 crosses over seal breaking structure 122 to break the seal formed by the dry gas seal between the food product container side wall 100 and the covering sleeve member side wall 101 and to expose humidification liquid HL from the humidification liquid chamber W into the dry gas chamber.
The compartment forming sleeve member 102, is preferably designed with inward facing protuberances 103 and outward facing protuberances 104 such as shown in
Annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131 holds a plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D, such as silica gel, molecular sieves, clay desiccants such as montmorillonite clays, calcium oxide, and calcium sulfide. Annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131 is preferably stretch-formed by one of thermoforming, injection-stretch-blowing, and by vacuum forming when covering sleeve member 30 is formed. Covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 responds to an increase in its temperature by deforming to increase the volume of the dry gas chamber DGS and thus rarefy the dry gas contained therein. This deformation is caused by the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D heating up and thus heating covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 as it absorbs humidification liquid I-IL vapor from humidified dry gas DG in the dry gas chamber DGS. The dry gas chamber DGS is in fluid communication with the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D and with the restricted vapor passageway 129a and thus, advantageously, the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131 is in fluid communication with the dry gas chamber DGS, and the interior of the compartment forming sleeve member 102. When the cooling actuation means θ is activated, the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D heats up the covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133. The covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 protrudes and intrudes into the dry gas chamber DGS. The shape of the protuberance is important in enhancing the cooling performance of the apparatus. The shape of the protuberance formed by covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 can be an inverted cup, a dome, and preferably any suitable shape that minimizes the volume of dry gas chamber DGS. Covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 is flexible and can respond to pressure changes by either collapsing or expanding.
The shape of covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 must minimize the dry gas chamber DGS and maximizes its intrusion into the dry gas chamber DGS. In the examples shown in the figures, the shape of the of the protuberance formed by covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 is an inverted cup-like shape and a dome. Covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 is flexible and can respond to pressure changes by either collapsing or expanding. When heated, the covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 shrinks and minimizes its area. The annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131 expands and increases in volume outwardly and causes the volume of the dry gas chamber DGS to maximize and generate a substantially lower pressure on dry gas DG that is less than its initial pressure which preferably is just below atmospheric ambient pressure. This lowers the vapor pressure of the dry gas DG and any humidification liquid vapor Vw in the dry gas chamber DGS.
The compartment forming sleeve member 102 is preferably made from an impervious plastic material such as PET and PVC. However, in a fifth embodiment of the invention, said compartment forming sleeve member 102 may be made from a simple corrugated cardboard. If made from a non-plastic material, the protuberances of the compartment forming sleeve member 102 can also be formed by means non-water soluble glues added to a wicking material to form compartment forming sleeve member 102 and then molding the material to the desired shape as the glue dries. It is anticipated that compartment forming sleeve member 102 can be made to have outward facing protuberances 104 that can just hold humidification liquid HL against the food product container side wall 100 when it receives, and also hold chemical compounds S against the food product container side wall 100.
To form the inward facing protuberances 103 and the outward facing protuberances 104, the material used to make compartment forming sleeve member 102 is placed over a mold and formed by one of heat-shrinking, if made from heat-shrinkable material, injection molded, if made from a plastic material, and press formed with glue, if made from a wicking material. Thus, the compartment forming sleeve member 102 can have inward facing protuberances 103 and the outward facing protuberances 104 which when bounded by the food product container side wall 100 can hold not only liquids but also distinct chemical compounds S that can one of, dissolve endothermically and cool by their solvation and react endothermically and reaction released humidification liquid and cool. It is anticipated that if the compartment forming sleeve member 102 can also be formed as a moldable wick material such from a cotton with a dryable insoluble glue added to it.
A cardboard 134 is optionally provided but not necessary, to glued to just cover the covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 to act as an insulator and protect the consumer against possible burns from heat generated by the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D. The cardboard 134 must be breathable, and preferably has a small cardboard hole 135 to permit the free flow of gases to and from atmosphere as the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space wall 133 flattens.
In all the embodiments, it is anticipated that the walls and the interior of the material of compartment forming sleeve member 102 may be infused with ionizable chemical compounds S that have reversible endothermic reactions with humidification liquid HL. This can be done by layering the walls of compartment forming sleeve member 102 with ionizable salts such as potassium chloride, ammonium chloride, and ammonium nitrates and other types of endothermic salts with endothermic ionization potential. If made from heat-shrinkable plastic material such as PET and PVC, the compartment forming sleeve member 102 can be heat-shrunk to form its final shape by hot-spraying it at high impact pressure with a stream of particulates of ionizable chemical compounds S to thermally shrink it and form its shape on a mold and coating it at the same time with the ionizable chemical compounds S. In all cases, the compartment forming sleeve member 102 has a wick on its outward surface that must form, as will be described later, a restricted vapor passageway 129a that only permits humidification liquid vapor Vw to pass through to the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D in the dry gas chamber DGS. This is easily achieved in the case of a plastic film material forming the compartment forming sleeve member 102 by banding a wicking material over the compartment forming sleeve member restriction portion 128.
Other methods of inserting ionizable soluble chemical compounds S such as endothermic salts unto and into the material of compartment forming sleeve member 102 include using a polyvinyl acetate (PVA) layer on the outside wall of the compartment forming sleeve member 102 and then attaching the ionizable chemical compounds S to the PVA layer. Other laminating materials such as humidification liquid hl-soluble glues may be used for this purpose.
A dry gas DG is provided inside the dry gas chamber DGS at preferably just under ambient atmospheric pressure. The dry gas GS is provided by a dry gas source DGS and it fills the spaces between the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D and the compartment forming sleeve member 102 in dry gas chamber e.
A manufacturing method M of the apparatus 10 is described herein as shown in
A dry gas seal 123 is provided as a rectanguloid seal like a rubber band and is expanded and placed in a plane circumferentially slanted at a small angular slant relative to the diametric plane of the food product container side wall 100 to have a maximal separation of about 50 mm and a minimal separation of about 20 mm below covering sleeve member seal 121. Preferably, a plastic self-adhesive label forming the seal breaking structure 122 is provided and attached to the food product container side wall 100 to lay inside and between the maximal separation gap between dry gas seal 123 and the covering sleeve member seal 121.
A compartment forming sleeve member 102 is provided, and attached circumferentially to cover at least in part the food product container side wall 100 below dry gas seal 123 using with one of friction, a glue and double sided adhesive tape.
Covering sleeve member 30 is provided as cup-like structure with straight covering sleeve member side wall 101 as shown in
Support cylinder 132 is placed to sit on covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 with support cylinder holes 137 close to the food product container 20 to form the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131 and the annular thermal wax retention space 136. Thermal wax 138 is placed to fill the annular thermal wax retention space 136 and plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D is filled into the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131.
Food product container 20 with the compartment forming sleeve member 102, seal breaking structure 122, the covering sleeve member seal 121 and the dry gas seal 123, is inserted to sit on support cylinder 132 inside the covering sleeve member 30.
A cylindrical rod CR is provided with a through hole TH through its length and with a three-way fitting TFW attached to the through hole TH. The first input of the three-way fitting TFW is connected by a dry gas hose DGH to fluidly communication with dry gas pressure canister DGC via a dry gas valve DGV. The second input of the three-way fitting TFW is connected by a vacuum pump hose VPH to a vacuum pump VP via a vacuum valve Vv. The third input of the three-way fitting TFW is co a humidification liquid valve HLV which is connected by a humidification liquid hose HLH to a humidification liquid valve HILT.
The cylindrical rod CR outer diameter is made to fit exactly inside the covering sleeve member 30 and it is inserted about 20 mm into the open end of covering sleeve member 30 and covering sleeve member 30 is heat shrunk to seal around it. The humidification liquid valve HLV, the dry gas valve DGV and the vacuum valve Vv are shut off.
The dry gas valve DGV at a low pressure of about 1 psig and the vacuum valve Vv are first opened to permit dry gas GS to flood the interior of the covering sleeve member 30 to purge any wet air and gases within the covering sleeve member 30 using the vacuum pump VP. After a few seconds of purging, the dry gas valve DGV is turned off to permit the vacuum pump VP to lightly rarify the dry gas DG remaining in the covering sleeve member 30 to a pressure just below ambient atmospheric pressure. A cut off valve to control the pressure may be provided, but the vacuum pump VP itself can be made to provide the rarefication required.
Hot air HA from a heat source HG such as a heat gun is first directed at the location of the covering sleeve member sealing portion 108 to shrink and clamp around the surface of dry gas seal 123 against the food product container side wall 100, after which the hot air HA is removed. This seals in dry gas GS at a rarefied pressure in the dry gas chamber DGS below the dry gas seal 123.
Then, the dry gas valve DGV and the vacuum valve Vv are shut off and the humidification liquid valve HLV is opened to permit humidification liquid HL to fill the annular space above the dry gas seal 123 between the food product container side wall 100 and the covering sleeve member side wall 101 up to a level just below the covering sleeve member seal 121 and then it is shut off.
Hot air HA from the heat source HG is now directed on the location of the covering sleeve member sealing portion 108 to shrink and clamp the covering seal 121 against the food product container side wall 100 after which the hot air HA is removed. This seals in the humidification liquid HL and forms the humidification liquid chamber W between the dry gas seal 123, the covering seal 121, food product container side wall 100 and the covering sleeve member side wall 101.
Then, the extra material of the covering sleeve member 30 above the food product container top wall seam 114 that is still attached to the cylindrical rod CR is cut off to create the covering sleeve member side wall end 110. Extension grip 111 is snapped to the food product container top wall seam 114 to act as an extension of the food product container 20. The apparatus 10 is now ready for use.
It is anticipated that the cooling actuation means θ is activated before the food product release means 113 is used. However, should the food product release means 113 be actuated before the cooling actuation means θ, then it is anticipated that the pressure drop of the food product container 20 will cause a relaxation of the food product container side wall 100 and slacken the dry gas seal 123 relative to the food product container side wall 100 and thus the apparatus 10 can be still activated as shown in
The heat of evaporation H is taken away by the dry gas DG as it becomes wet and lowers its dew point temperature. Note that the dry gas DG temperature does not increase by this process since its dew point temperature takes the heat of evaporation h of the humidification liquid HL away. The higher dew point temperature dry gas DG saturates the dry gas chamber DGS, and enters the restricted vapor passageway 129a. Dry gas DG is an electromotive transport means. The removal of polar water molecules in vapor form into dry gas DG is due to an electromotive heat transport potential. Dry gas DG changes the reactivity of the restricted vapor passageway 129a, (Respir. Physiol. 1997 July; 109 (1):65-72). Negative ions in a dry gas DG attract polar molecules of the humidification liquid HL in the restricted vapor passageway 129a. This is why when air is dry, one gets a greater propensity for electrostatic effects.
The plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D may be one of, a liquid, gel, and a solid that absorbs humidification liquid HL vapor Vw. Humidification liquid HL may also be a pressurized liquid in equilibrium with its vapor such as an ammonium solution, a dimethylether solution, and a carbonated solution. In such a case, table 1 provides for the various combinations of the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D, the dry gas GS, and the humidification liquid HL that may be used with the invention.
As dry gas GS wetted by humidification liquid vapor Vw enters through the restricted vapor passageway 129a and then through the support cylinder holes 137 to be absorbed into the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D to dehumidify, its vapor pressure lowers and the dew point temperature of the dehumidified dry gas GS falls far below the dew point temperature of the humidified dry gas DG in the dry gas chamber DGS. Dehumidified dry gas DG in the dry gas chamber DGS is again pulled in by the higher vapor pressure of the dry gas chamber DGS and to again absorb more vapor and transport it to the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D. Plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D heats up as it sorbs the humidification liquid vapor Vw and the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space wall 133 which is tensioned by being pre-stretch-formed, responds to the increase in its temperature by deforming and shrinking in area. When heated, the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space wall 133 shrinks in surface area and moves outwardly from the food product container domed bottom 22 causing the volume of the dry gas chamber DGS to increase and thus generate a substantial lower vapor pressure in the fixed amount of rarified dry gas DG in the dry gas chamber DGS. This lowers the vapor pressure of the dry gas DG in the dry gas chamber DGS even more and any humidification liquid vapor Vw in the dry gas chamber DGS is pulled into the dry gas DG to evaporate. This deformation of the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space wall 133 continues with the continued generation of more heat of evaporation h, causing the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space wall 133 to preferably flatten and thus increase the volume of the dry gas chamber DGS relative to its original volume.
In order to prevent the covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 from collapsing and deforming its shape, support cylinder 132 takes up the compressive forces of the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space wall 133 against the food product container bottom edge 21 and prevents the covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 from deforming. Thus, the flattening of the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space wall 133 will not affect the structure of the covering sleeve member bottom wall 130. The deformation and flattening of the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space wall 133 causes the dry gas chamber DGS to increase in volume, and since there is a fixed amount of dry gas DG in the dry gas chamber DGS, a lower pressure is created inside the dry gas chamber DGS. The annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131 is also made larger by the flattening of the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space wall 133. This causes the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D to continuously shift, move, fall and spread over the flattened annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space wall 133. This spreading agitates the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D and makes it more effective as it assumes a greater surface area. Further, preferably the dry gas DG is preferably at atmospheric pressure when it is stored between the dry gas chamber DGS. The negative pressure generated on the dry gas DG causes even more absorption of humidification liquid vapor Vw into the dry gas DG by evaporation of humidification liquid HL. The approximately 1840-fold expansion of humidification liquid HL into humidification liquid vapor Vw in the dry gas chamber DGS due to the gasification of humidification liquid HL increases the relative vapor pressure of the dry gas chamber DGS in relation to the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131. Thus, advantageously, the humidification liquid vapor Vw in the dry gas chamber DGS naturally wants to enter into the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D. Thus, dry gas DG is an electromotive heat transport means for humidification liquid vapor Vw into the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D without the need for a true vacuum.
As dry gas DG delivers the humidification liquid vapor Vw into the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D, its actual temperature increases due to the heat generated by the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D. The heat from the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D is partially absorbed by the dry gas DG and its dew point temperature lowers even more. This causes dry gas DG to migrate again into the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D and collect more humidification liquid vapor Vw from dry gas chamber DGS. The cooling continues in this fashion dehydrating the ionizable compounds on the dry gas chamber DGS. The ionizable compounds are not absolutely necessary for the invention to work, however they improve the cooling efficiency since dry gas DG will absorb humidification liquid vapor Vw from even cold humidification liquid HL. The ultimate source of heat of evaporation h is the food product P, which cools by this method. “salting” the dry gas chamber DGS by drying out the chemical compounds S back to their original form (if used), makes them reusable for further cooling. Drying out the dry gas DG by the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D makes it also reusable again for further cooling.
Further, the deformation motion of the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space walls 133 causes the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D to move and spread out to permit unexposed plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D to take action and effectuate the sorbing of humidification liquid vapor Vw into the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D. It is anticipated that a heat-absorbing thermal wax 138 such as ordinary candle wax may be placed in the annular thermal wax retention space 136 between support cylinder 132 and the covering sleeve member side wall 101 to absorb heat of evaporation h from the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D and store the heat of evaporation h. However, this has been found to be effective only if a large amount of plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D, is used for a large food product container 20 in excess of 20 oz in volume.
Further the covering sleeve member 30 can be made from shrinkable material such as TPX™ formed from a combination of plastic materials called Polymethylpentene and glass beads, the resulting covering sleeve member 30 will be capable of quickly releasing absorbed heat of evaporation h through its structure and radiate the heat of evaporation h quickly to atmosphere. Further, the deformation motion of the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space walls 133 causes the atmospheric air in it to absorb heat from the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D and remove this heat through the cardboard hole 137 if used, or directly to the atmosphere as the heated air volume beneath the flattening annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space walls 133 is expelled.
Cardboard 134 is provided but not necessary. Preferably, but not necessarily, cardboard 134 is made to fit and cover the covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 and is glued to covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 protect the consumer against possible burns. Cardboard 134 has a small central cardboard hole 135 to permit the free flow of gases to atmosphere due to the flattening of the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space wall 133.
In all embodiments, it is anticipated that the walls and the material used to form compartment forming sleeve member 102 may be layered with ionizable dissolving chemical compounds DCC, that have reversible endothermic reactions with humidification liquid HL.
A dry gas DG is provided inside the dry gas chamber DGS at preferably just under ambient atmospheric pressure. The dry gas GS is provided by a dry gas source DGS and it fills dry gas chamber DGS and the empty spaces between the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D and the compartment forming sleeve member 102.
Referring to
As shown in
As before, a compartment forming sleeve member 102 is provided as described in the first embodiment, with a compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 and compartment forming sleeve member bottom wall 106 and as in the first embodiment, the compartment forming sleeve member 102 is preferably made from thin impermeable one of heat-shrinkable stretch-formed polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and heat-shrinkable stretch-formed polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Other materials may be used depending on the way the compartment forming sleeve member 102 is fashioned.
As before, the compartment forming sleeve member 102 can initially be formed with cylindrical compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 and then molded into a variety of shapes by one of compressive molding and heat-shrinking to form projected protuberances on its surface. Otherwise its shape may be injection molded or compression formed.
As before, compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 is preferably made with inward facing protuberances 103 and outward facing protuberances 104 respectively on its walls to increase its surface area and provide for strength, surface area, and permit a variety of distinct reacting chemical compounds RCC, to be stored between independent protuberances, as shown in
The compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 is circumferentially attached to frictionally tangentially contact the food product container side wall 100 to cover at least in part the food product container side wall 100 below the covering sleeve member seal 121. Grease, soft pliable glues and waxes may also be used to hold it firmly in place and to at least form distinct compartments with the food product container side wall 100. Preferably, the compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 extends to cover-in-part as much of the exposed surface of the food product container side wall 100 below the covering sleeve member seal 121 as possible.
As before, a dry gas seal 123 is provided preferably also in the form of an O-ring seal, a metal band seal, a rubber band seal, a putty seal, and sealing wax seal, a glue bonding agent and shaped in the form of a thin loop, usually a ring structure. The dry gas seal 123 is placed circumferentially and sealingly tight around the compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 in a plane parallel to the diametric plane of the food product container 20 and close to the compartment forming sleeve member side wall lower edge 24. A maximal distal separation between the covering sleeve member seal 121 and the dry gas seal 123 is optimum for this version of the invention to work. Dry gas seal 123 when placed around the compartment forming sleeve member side wall lower edge 24 should have an outer diameter slightly greater than the outside diameter of the outward facing protuberances 104 of the compartment forming sleeve member 102. This permits a proper seal to be formed by the dry gas seal 123 with the covering sleeve member 30.
As before, it is anticipated that compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 may also cover and surround in whole the food product container side wall 100 below the dry gas seal 123, and that compartment forming sleeve member bottom wall 106 extend to cover and surround the food product container domed bottom wall 22 as a cup-like sleeve structure.
As before, the inward facing protuberances 103 of the compartment forming sleeve member 102 are held tangentially tight against the food product container side wall 100 preferably by friction. And again, the outward facing protuberances 104 and the food product container side wall 100 form a collection of distinct compartments with the food product container side wall 100. The inward facing protuberances 103 and the covering sleeve member side wall 101 also form a collection of distinct compartments above the dry gas seal 123. The distinct compartments formed by outward facing protuberances 104 and the food product container side wall 100 and are filled with reacting chemical compounds RCC selected from pairs of hydrated chemical compounds S that react endothermically to generate the humidification liquid HL that will be used by the apparatus 10. Each such one of the pair of reacting chemical compounds RCC selected is placed in a neighboring distinct compartment formed by the outward facing protuberances 104 and the food product container side wall 100.
Covering sleeve member 30 is provided. Covering sleeve member 30 is made from one of stretch-formed polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (terephthalate or PVC), and other materials such as deep drawn aluminum, in the form of a thin-walled cup-like sleeve that surrounds and encloses in whole or in part the food product container 20. Preferably, covering sleeve member 30 has a covering sleeve member side wall 101 that can just slidingly fit over compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105, and has a shape that follows the contour of food product container side wall 100. Covering sleeve member side wall 101 can take on a variety of shapes but must permit said covering sleeve member side wall 101 to mate sealingly with portions of the food product container side wall 100 to hold and form seals with the dry gas seal 123 and the covering sleeve member seal 121 when so formed as will be described in the foregoing.
The covering sleeve member side wall 101 covers in whole or in part a sealed food product container 20 containing a food product P with the compartment forming sleeve member 102 attached. Covering sleeve member side wall 101 preferably covers in-part food product container side wall 100 and may extend to cover in part the food product container top wall 107. Covering sleeve member side wall 101 can be made with many types of materials but preferably heat-shrinkable plastics such as PET and PVC are preferred. Covering sleeve member side wall 101 can also be made with aluminum as a deep drawn container, and must be re-formable by spin forming and crimping to form seals with the food product container 20.
As before, covering sleeve member 30 has covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 that sealing connects to covering sleeve member side wall 101. Covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 sealing connects to an inward protruding covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133. Covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 is flexible and can respond to pressure changes by either collapsing or expanding.
As stated earlier, it is anticipated that covering sleeve member 101 may be made from spun or deep drawn aluminum and formed to provide for all the sealing required by spin forming and rolling it in parts. In such a case, covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 may be made from heat-shrinkable PET or PVC material and added on to the covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 by ultrasonic welding or gluing. If needed, a thin-walled open ended support cylinder 132, with support cylinder holes 137 close to its top end is placed to rest at the opposite open end on the covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 between the covering sleeve member side wall 101 and the covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 and to contact the food product container 20. If the covering sleeve member side wall 101 is made strong enough, support cylinder 132 is not necessary.
Also as described earlier, annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131 within the covering sleeve member 30 is formed between the space defined by the inner surface of the support cylinder 132, inner surface covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 and the inner surface covering sleeve member bottom wall 130. Annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131 is filled with a plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D up to the height of the covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133.
An annular thermal wax retention space 136 is also formed in the covering sleeve member 30 between the outer surface of the support cylinder 132, the inner surface of the covering sleeve member side wall 102 and the inner surface of the covering sleeve member bottom wall 130. Annular thermal wax retention space 136 may be optionally filled up to the height of the support cylinder 132, with a suitable thermal wax 138 that can melt at temperatures ranging from 70° F. to 160° F. Support cylinder 132 prevents the covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 from collapsing and deforming its shape relative to food product container 20.
When covering sleeve member is placed over the food product container 20 and the attached compartment forming sleeve member 102, the compartment forming sleeve member bottom wall 106 rests on the support cylinder 137 and the outward facing protuberances 104 on the compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 tangentially touch the covering sleeve member side wall 101 to form distinct compartments 105b between the said walls. The covering sleeve member side wall 101 covers over the attached compartment forming sleeve member 102 and covers in-whole or in-part the food product container side wall 100. Inward facing protuberances 103 and the covering sleeve member side wall 101 form a collection of distinct compartments 105b above the dry gas seal 123 as shown in
As before, the covering sleeve member side wall 101 just fits over the compartment forming sleeve member 102 and should just tangentially touch the dry gas seal 123 tangentially. As before, the covering sleeve member side wall 101 has a covering sleeve member sealing potion 118 that is then shrunk in diameter to form a seal between the compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 and the covering sleeve member side wall 101. This seal is used to seal a dry gas GS rarefied to just below atmospheric pressure and thus form a dry gas chamber DGS below the dry gas seal 123 that contains the support cylinder 132, the annular thermal wax retention space 136 with a thermal wax 138 therein, the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131 with the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D contained therein.
Preferably, more reacting chemicals compounds RCC are then placed in the distinct compartments 105b thus formed by the inward facing protuberances 103 and the covering sleeve member side wall 101. These distinct compartments 105b are adjacent to reacting chemicals compounds RCC that have been placed in the distinct compartments 105b formed before by the outward facing protuberances 104 and the food product container side wall 100. Of course one could use the inward facing protuberances 103 and outward facing protuberances 104 to respectively store separate and different species of reacting chemical compounds RCC selected as pairs. Thus more than one species of pairs of reacting chemical compounds RCC can be used with the apparatus 10. Preferably the variety of distinct reacting chemical compounds RCC that can react with each other endothermically are species chosen from pairs such as BA(OH)2.8H2O(s) and NH4SCN(s), and NH4NO3(s), and NH4CL(s). These reacting chemical compounds RCC have humidification liquid HL stored between their hydrated structure.
A humidification liquid chamber w, is thus formed above the dry gas seal 123 with inward facing protuberances 103 and outward facing protuberances 104 containing the reacting chemical compounds RCC that have water as humidification liquid HL in them. To avoid premature reactions, the reacting chemical compounds RCC pairs that can react with one another are placed in distinct outward facing protuberances 104 separated by inward facing protuberances 103 respectively. The same is true for the reacting chemical compounds placed in distinct inward facing protuberances 103 separated by outward facing protuberances 104 respectively.
Dry gas GS rarefied to just below atmospheric pressure is provided to fill and purge covering sleeve member 30 further. Covering sleeve member side wall 101 has a covering sleeve member sealing portion 108 that can be shrunk in diameter to seal over covering seal 121 and form seal form a covering sleeve member side wall seal 109. Covering sleeve member sealing portion 108 when shrunk in diameter forms a seal with the covering seal 121 between the food product container top wall seam 114 and the covering sleeve member 30 to seal off the humidification liquid chamber W from atmosphere.
As before, it is anticipated that covering sleeve member side wall end 110 is located at the covering sleeve member sealing portion 108, but it is contemplated that the covering sleeve member side wall end 110 may extend beyond the covering sleeve member sealing portion 108.
Covering sleeve member sealing portion 108 can be either be heated and heat shrunk if made from heat-shrinkable material or roll formed roll formed with a rolling former machine to shrink in diameter and seal against the covering seal 121 against the food product container top wall seam 114 and hold the rarefied dry gas GS therein.
A standard food product container 20 is provided.
As before, a dry gas seal 123 is provided and first placed circumferentially and sealingly around the food product container side wall 100 in a plane parallel to the diametric plane of the food product container 20 and to band and seal around the compartment forming sleeve member side wall bottom edge 24.
As described earlier, the compartment forming sleeve member 102 is provided preferably as a cylindrical structure with inward facing protuberances 103 and outward facing protuberances 104. Inward facing protuberances 103 should have a diameter that is just a slide fit over food product container side wall 100. Thus compartment forming sleeve member 102 is slid over the food product container side wall 100 to sit on dry gas seal 123 and attached circumferentially to cover at least in part the food product container side wall 100 above the dry gas seal 123.
The desired species of reacting chemicals compounds RCC are then filled into the respective outward facing protuberances 104 that form respective chambers.
As before, a covering sleeve member seal 121 is provided and placed circumferentially and tightly around the food product container side wall 100 in a plane parallel to the diametric plane of the food product container 20 and to band around the food product container top wall seam 114.
As before, covering sleeve member 30 is provided. Covering sleeve member side wall 101 should be of a length greater than the food product container 20 and in fact it is preferable that it extends beyond the food product container top wall 107 by at least 50 mm for manufacturing purposes.
To avoid repletion, as before support cylinder 132 (not shown as an example of not being absolutely necessary) may be placed to sit on covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 with support cylinder holes 137 close to the food product container 20 to form the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131 and the annular thermal wax retention space 136. Thermal wax 138 (not shown as an example of not being absolutely necessary) is placed to fill the annular thermal wax retention space 136. Plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D is filled into the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131.
The subassembly of the food product container 20, the compartment forming sleeve member 102, the covering sleeve member seal 121 and the dry gas seal 123 just sit frictionally against the covering sleeve member side wall 101 with compartment forming sleeve member bottom wall 106 spaced above plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D. The desired species of reacting chemicals compounds RCC are then filled into the respective inward facing protuberances 103 that form respective chambers with the covering sleeve member side wall 101.
Cylindrical rod CR is provided as before. The humidification liquid valve HLV, the dry gas valve DGV and the vacuum valve Vv are shut off.
The dry gas valve DGV at a low pressure of about 1 psig and the vacuum valve Vv are first opened to permit dry gas GS to flood the interior of the covering sleeve member 30 to purge any wet air and gases within the covering sleeve member 30 using the vacuum pump VP. After a few seconds of purging, the dry gas valve DGV is turned off to permit the vacuum pump VP to lightly rarify the dry gas DG remaining in the covering sleeve member 30 to a pressure just below ambient atmospheric pressure. Hot air HA from heat source HG is first directed at the location of the covering sleeve member side wall 118 with covering sleeve member sealing potion 119 to heat-shrink it in diameter to form a seal between the covering sleeve member side wall 100 against the dry gas seal 123 and causes the dry gas seal 123 to seal against the compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105, after which the hot air HA is removed. This traps dry gas GS in a rarefied state in the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D below the dry gas seal 123.
As before, if made from a heat-shrinkable plastic, hot air HA is then directed at the location of the covering sleeve member sealing portion 108 of the covering sleeve member side wall 101 to shrink and clamp the covering sleeve member sealing portion 108 around the surface of covering sleeve member seal 121 to clamp the same against the food product container top wall seam 114 and form a seal, after which the hot air HA is removed. This seals the humidification liquid chamber W with rarefied dry gas GS.
If made from a deep drawn and spun aluminum, forming rollers from a rolling forming machine RFM is directed at the location of the food product covering sleeve member sealing portion 108 of the covering sleeve member side wall 101 to shrink and clamp the covering sleeve member sealing portion 108 around the surface of covering sleeve member seal 121 to form the seal against the food product container top wall seam 114.
Thus dry gas GS at a rarefied pressure is now sealed inside the humidification liquid chamber w, and inside the dry gas chamber DGS and also permeates the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D. Then, the dry gas valve DGV and the vacuum valve Vv are shut off. As before, the extra material of the covering sleeve member 30 that is still attached to the cylindrical rod CR is cut off to create the covering sleeve member side wall end 110. The apparatus 10 is now ready for use.
Cooling actuation means 40 is activated by using finger pressure f to deform the dry gas seal 123 causing fluid communication between the humidification liquid chamber W and the dry gas chamber DGS. It is anticipated that cooling actuation means 40 is activated before the food product release means 113 is used. However, should the food product release means 113 be actuated before the cooling actuation means, then it is anticipated that the pressure drop of the food product container 20 will cause a relaxation of the food product container side wall 100 and slacken the grip of the dry gas seal 123 relative to the compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 and thus will cause fluid communication between the humidification liquid chamber W the dry gas chamber DGS and the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D.
The covering sleeve member side wall 101 can then be massaged by hand relative to the compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 to cause the reacting chemical compounds RCC in the humidification liquid chamber W to react with each other to endothermically cool and at the same time reaction released humidification liquid HL. The massaging deforms the inward facing protuberances and the outward facing protuberances 104 of the compartment forming sleeve member 102 to permit the reacting chemical compounds RCC to mix and react with each other to provide a first cooling means of the apparatus 10 by endothermic reaction cooling and at the same time provides a means to reaction released humidification liquid HL for a second cooling means.
The rarefication of the dry gas GS will force humidification liquid HL thus generated by reactions to evaporate as humidification liquid vapor Vw into the dry gas dg. The dry gas DG absorbs humidification liquid vapor Vw and this lowers the dew point temperature of the dry gas DG and it becomes wet gas in a third cooling means of the apparatus 10. Additional heat of evaporation, h, is taken away from the humidification liquid HL by the dry gas DG as it becomes wet and lowers its dew point temperature. The higher dew point temperature dry gas DG saturates the dry gas chamber DGS and is absorbed by the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D in the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131. Plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D heats up as it sorbs the humidification liquid vapor Vw and the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space wall 133 which is tensioned by being stretch-formed, responds to the increase in its temperature by deforming and shrinking its area.
As before, when heated, the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space wall 133 shrinks its surface area and moves outwardly away from the food product container domed bottom wall 22 causing the volume of the dry gas chamber DGS and the humidification liquid chamber W to increase and thus generating a substantial lower vapor pressure in the fixed amount of rarified dry gas DG in the dry gas chamber DGS. This lowers the vapor pressure of the dry gas DG in the dry gas chamber DGS. The pressure in the dry gas chamber DGS is now lower and it will absorb more humidification liquid vapor Vw to continue the cooling process.
Further, the deformation motion of the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space walls 133 causes the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D to move and spread out to permit unexposed plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D to take action and effectuate the sorbing of humidification liquid vapor Vw into the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D and a second cooling means is provided by the evaporation of the humidification liquid HL generated by the reactions.
Referring to
As before, covering sleeve member seal 121 is provided as described in the first embodiment of the invention, in the form of a thin loop structure made from one of an O-ring seal, a metal ring seal, a rubber band seal, a putty seal, and sealing wax seal, and a glue bonding agent. The covering sleeve member seal 121 should be expandable to form a tight sealing band around the food product container 20. The loop diameter of covering sleeve member seal 121 is placed circumferentially and sealingly tight around the food product container top wall seam 114 in a plane parallel to the diametric plane of the food product container 20.
As before, a dry gas seal 123 is provided as described in the first embodiment of the invention preferably also in the form of an O-ring seal, metal band seal, a rubber band seal, a putty seal, and sealing wax seal, a glue bonding agent and shaped in the form of a thin loop, usually a ring structure. The dry gas seal 123 is placed circumferentially and sealingly tight around the food product container side wall 100 in a plane parallel to the diametric plane of the food product container 20 and spaced about 20 mm from the covering sleeve member seal 121.
As before, compartment forming sleeve member 102 in the shape of a thin cup is provided with the compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 and the compartment forming sleeve member bottom wall 106. Compartment forming sleeve member 102 is a thin-walled cup-like structure with compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 and compartment forming sleeve member bottom wall 106 that surrounds in part the food product container side wall 100 forming an annular gap with the food product container side wall 100.
As before, the compartment forming sleeve member 102 is preferably formed from either injection-molded plastic material such as PET and PVC. The compartment forming sleeve member 102 can also be formed as a thin deep drawn aluminum cup. The compartment forming sleeve member 102 can also be injection molded, however it is anticipated that compartment forming sleeve member 102 is made from heat-shrinkable plastic material such as PET and PVC. As such the compartment forming sleeve member 102 should be tall enough to surround the food product container bottom domed wall 22 and for the compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 to cover most of the food product container side wall 100 with the compartment forming sleeve member top edge 105a just above the dry gas seal 123. The compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 is shrunk in diameter to and clamp over the dry gas seal 123 to form a fluid seal between the food product container side wall 100. The inward surface of the compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105, the dry gas seal 123, outward surface of the food product container side wall 100, the outward surface of the food product domed bottom wall 22 and the inward surface of the compartment forming sleeve member bottom wall 106 form a humidification liquid chamber W filled with humidification liquid HL to surround the food product container side wall 100 in part and the food product domed bottom wall 22. Humidification liquid fills the humidification liquid chamber W up to just below dry gas seal 123. Thus, when compartment forming sleeve member 102 is either heat shrunk or crimped to seal over the dry gas seal 123, dry gas seal 123 forms a seal between the compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 and the food product container side wall 100 in part to form the sealed humidification liquid chamber W which contains humidification liquid HL. The humidification liquid HL thus surrounds the food product container bottom domed wall 22 and the food product container side wall 100 in part.
As before a wick 140 is optionally provided but not necessary. Wick 140 is bonded to the outward facing wall of compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 as described earlier.
As before, the covering sleeve member side wall 101 has a covering sleeve member sealing potion 118 that can be shrunk in diameter to form a restricted vapor passageway 119a on the wick 140 against the compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105. The compression of covering sleeve member sealing potion 118 also causes the dry gas seal 123 to seal between the compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 and the food product container side wall 100.
As before, when the covering sleeve member sealing portion 108 is shrunk in diameter it forms a covering sleeve member seal 109 with the covering seal 121 and clamps around the food product container top wall seam 114 to form the dry gas chamber DGS. The dry gas chamber DGS extends between the covering sleeve member seal 121, the covering sleeve member side wall 101, the food product container side wall 100 above the dry gas seal 123 in-part, the dry gas seal 123 and the outward facing surface of the compartment forming sleeve member 102. A dry gas DG preferably just under ambient atmospheric pressure is provided inside the dry gas chamber DGS.
As before, covering sleeve member 30 has covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 that sealing connects to covering sleeve member side wall 101. Covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 sealing connects to an inward protruding covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133. Covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 is flexible and can respond to pressure changes by either collapsing or expanding.
Food product container 20 is preferably a cylindrical beverage container of standard design, with standard food product release means 113 and a standard food product release port 112.
Covering sleeve member 30 is provided. Covering sleeve member 30 as described earlier is preferably made from one of stretch-formed, stretch blown PET and PVC to form a covering sleeve member 30 in the form of a thin-walled cup-like sleeve, but it can also be formed from deep drawn thin walled aluminum. Covering sleeve member 30 has covering sleeve member side wall 101 that surrounds in whole or in part the food product container 20 with compartment forming sleeve member 102 attached to said food product container side wall 100. Covering sleeve member side wall 101 can take on a variety of shapes to give it strength but must permit said covering sleeve member side wall 101 to mate with portions of the food product container side wall 100 as will be described in the foregoing. The covering sleeve member side wall 101 covers in whole or in part a sealed food product container 20 containing a food product P. Covering sleeve member side wall 101 can be made with other plastic materials that can shrink when heat is applied to their surfaces. Covering sleeve member side wall 101 preferably covers in-part food product container side wall 100 and may extend to cover in part the food product container top wall 107. The covering sleeve member side wall 101 just slidingly fits and circumferentially surrounds the wick 140 on the compartment forming sleeve member 102. Covering sleeve member side wall 101 preferably covers in-part food product container side wall 100 and may extend to cover in part the food product container top wall 107. It is anticipated that covering sleeve member side wall end 110 is located at the covering sleeve member sealing portion 108, but it is contemplated that the covering sleeve member side wall end 110 may extend beyond the covering sleeve member sealing portion 108 and above the food product container top wall 107. When the covering sleeve member sealing portion 108 is shrunk, it clamps around the surface of compartment forming sleeve member 102 and forms an annular dry gas chamber DGS defined by the surfaces of the dry gas seal 123, the covering sleeve member seal 121 and the food product container side wall 100 in part and the covering sleeve member side wall in part.
Covering sleeve member 30 protects compartment forming sleeve member 102. When the covering sleeve member side wall 101 is heat shrunk, it should not clamp around the surface of compartment forming sleeve member 102 but must permit humidification liquid vapor Vw to able to pass between the covering sleeve member side wall 101 and the outward facing compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105. It is anticipated that covering sleeve member sealing portion 118 partially deforms around the compartment forming sleeve member 102 to securely hold the same and provide for a restricted vapor passageway 119a.
The outward facing surface of the compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105, the dry gas seal 123, and the inward facing surface in part covering sleeve member 30 form a dry gas chamber DGS. The outward facing surface of the food product container side wall 100, the covering sleeve member seal 121, and the inward facing surface in part food product container side wall 101 form a humidification liquid chamber w.
Covering sleeve member 30 has covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 that sealing connects to covering sleeve member side wall 101. Covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 sealing connects to an inward protruding covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133. Covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 is flexible and can respond to pressure changes by either collapsing or expanding. Covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 is filled with plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D up to the level of the covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133. The inside surfaces of covering sleeve member 30 below the covering sleeve member seal 121 form a dry gas chamber DGS containing a dry gas GS.
It is anticipated that covering sleeve member 101 may be made from spun or deep drawn aluminum and formed to provide for all the sealing required by spin forming and rolling it in parts. In such a case, covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 may be made from heat-shrinkable PET or PVC material and added on to the covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 by ultrasonic welding or gluing. If needed, a thin-walled open ended support cylinder 132 provided as before, with support cylinder holes 137 close to its top end is placed to rest at the opposite open end on the covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 between the covering sleeve member side wall 101 and the covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 and to contact the compartment forming sleeve member bottom wall 105. If the covering sleeve member side wall 101 is made strong enough, support cylinder 132 is not necessary.
Annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131 within the dry gas chamber DGS is formed between the space defined by the inner surface of the support cylinder 132, inner surface covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 and the inner surface covering sleeve member bottom wall 130. Annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131 is in fluid communication with the dry gas chamber DGS and is within dry gas chamber DGS. An annular thermal wax retention space 136 is formed in the dry gas chamber DGS between the outer surface of the support cylinder 132, the inner surface of the covering sleeve member side wall 102 and the inner surface of the covering sleeve member bottom wall 130. Annular thermal wax retention space 136 may be optionally filled with a suitable thermal wax 138 that can melt at temperatures ranging from 70° f to 160° f. Support cylinder 132 prevents the covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 from collapsing and deforming its shape relative to food product container 20.
A cooling actuation means, 40, is provided when a finger f is used to depress covering sleeve member side wall 101 at the location of the dry gas seal 123 to deform the same and expose humidification liquid HL from the humidification liquid chamber W into the dry gas chamber e.
It is anticipated that compartment forming sleeve member 102 may have shapes and forms that can assist in increasing the surface area, to help evaporation in the dry gas chamber DGS. It is anticipated that ionizable chemical compounds S are selected from the species of dissolving chemical compounds DCC that dissolve endothermically may be placed in inward facing protuberances 103 of the compartment forming sleeve member 102 as described earlier. This can be done by infusing the outward facing surface of compartment forming sleeve member 102 with said ionizable dissolving chemical compounds DCC as described earlier. Restricted vapor passageway 119a is formed by the clamping of covering sleeve member sealing portion 118 on wick 140.
Annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131 holds a plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D, such as silica gel, molecular sieves, clay desiccants such as montmorillonite clays, calcium oxide, and calcium sulfide. Annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131 is stretch-formed from a heat-shrinkable material including various forms of heat-shrinkable PET and various forms of heat-shrinkable PVC. Covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 responds to heat by deforming and shrinking its surface area. Advantageously, covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 shrinks in surface area and tends to flatten with heat received from the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber to increase the volume of the dry gas chamber DGS. This deformation is caused by the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D heating up as it absorbs humidification liquid HL vapor Vw from humidified dry gas DG in the dry gas chamber DGS. The dry gas GS in the dry gas chamber DGS is in fluid communication with the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D and with the restricted vapor passageway 119a and thus, advantageously, the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131 is in fluid communication with the outside walls of compartment forming sleeve member 102.
The shape of covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 must minimize the dry gas chamber DGS before it is heated, and thus its intrusion into the dry gas chamber DGS must be designed to maximize and increase the volume of the dry gas chamber DGS. In the examples shown in
When heated, the covering sleeve member shrinkable annular wall 133 shrinks and minimizes its area. The annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131 expands and move outwardly and causes the volume of the dry gas chamber DGS to increase to generate a substantially lower pressure on dry gas DG less than its initial pressure which preferably is just below ambient atmospheric pressure. This lowers the vapor pressure of the dry gas DG and any vapor in the dry gas chamber DGS, and thus the vapor pressure in the compartment forming sleeve member 102. Thus, it is anticipated that covering sleeve member side wall 100 may be designed with annular protuberances or lateral protuberances to strengthen it and prevent it from collapsing under the rarefication force generated by the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D. For example, the inward facing protuberances 103 and outward facing protuberances 104 shown in
As before, the compartment forming sleeve member 102's outward facing surface forms a part of the dry gas chamber DGS. This surface can also be layered with ionizable compounds S when it is heat shrunk to form its shape by hot-spraying it with a stream of particulates of ionizable compounds carried by heated air at high impact pressure as it is thermally shrunk to form its shape on a mold. A dry gas DG at preferably just below atmospheric ambient pressure is provided inside the dry gas chamber DGS and to also fill the dry gas chamber DGS and create a slight pressure difference between the dry gas chamber DGS (lower pressure) and the humidification liquid chamber W.
This method is essentially the same as the steps required for the first embodiment with slight differences, a standard food product container 20 is provided.
As before, a covering sleeve member seal 121 is provided and covering sleeve member seal 121 is expanded and placed circumferentially and tightly around the food product container side wall 100 in a plane parallel to the diametric plane of the food product container 20 and to band around the food product container top wall seam 114.
As before, dry gas seal 123 is provided and expanded and placed circumferentially and tightly around the food product container top wall 107 about 20 mm or so below covering sleeve member seal 121 in a plane parallel to the diametric plane of the food product container 20 to band around the food product container side wall 100.
Compartment forming sleeve member 102 is provided in the form of a cup-sleeve as described earlier is provided to frictionally encases and fits over food product container side wall 100 and just cover the dry gas seal 123. As before a wick 140 is optionally provided and bonded to the outward facing wall of compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105.
Humidification liquid HL is poured into compartment forming sleeve member 102 to fill the humidification liquid chamber W between the food product container and the compartment forming sleeve member 102 up to just below the dry gas seal 123.
Hot air HA is first directed at the compartment forming sleeve member 102 at location of the dry gas seal 123 to shrink and clamp the compartment forming sleeve member 102 in part around the surface of dry gas seal 123, after which the hot air HA is removed. This seals in humidification liquid HL and forms the sealed humidification liquid chamber w, formed by the annular gap between the food product container and the compartment forming sleeve member 102 up to just below the dry gas seal 123.
As before, covering sleeve member 30 is provided as cup-like structure with straight covering sleeve member side wall 101 as shown in
As before, covering sleeve member side wall 101 should be taller than food product container 20 and should extend beyond the food product container top wall 107 by at least 50 mm. The covering sleeve member side wall 101 just fits over the compartment forming sleeve member 102:
As before, support cylinder 132 is placed to sit on covering sleeve member bottom wall 130 with support cylinder holes 137 close to the food product container 20 to form the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131 and the annular thermal wax retention space 136. As before, thermal wax 138 is placed to fill the annular thermal wax retention space 136 and holds a plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D is filled in the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131.
As before, food product container 20 with the compartment forming sleeve member 102, compartment forming sleeve member 102 attached, the covering sleeve member seal 121 and the dry gas seal 123 is inserted to sit on support cylinder 132 inside the covering sleeve member 30.
As before, cylindrical rod CR is provided with a through hole TH through its length and with a three-way fitting TFW attached to the through hole TH. As before, the first input of the three-way fitting TFW is connected by a dry gas hose DGH to fluidly communication with dry gas pressure canister DGC via a dry gas valve DGV. As before the second input of the three-way fitting TFW is connected by a vacuum pump hose VPH to a vacuum pump VP via a vacuum valve Vv. As before the third input of the three-way fitting TFW is connected by a humidification liquid tank HLT via a humidification liquid valve HLV.
As before the cylindrical rod CR outer diameter is made to fit exactly inside the covering sleeve member 30 and it is inserted about 20 mm into the open end of covering sleeve member 30 and covering sleeve member 30 is heat shrunk to seal around it. The humidification liquid valve HLV, the dry gas valve DGV and the vacuum valve Vv are shut off.
As stated earlier, the dry gas valve DGV regulated at a low pressure of about 1 psig and the vacuum valve Vv are first opened to permit dry gas GS to flood the interior of the covering sleeve member 30 to purge any wet air and gases within the compartment forming sleeve member 102, the dry gas chamber DGS and in the interior of the covering sleeve member 30 using the vacuum pump VP. After a few seconds of purging, the dry gas valve DGV is turned off to permit the vacuum pump VP to lightly rarify the dry gas DG remaining in the covering sleeve member 30 to a pressure just below ambient atmospheric pressure. A cut off valve to control the pressure may be provided, but the vacuum pump VP itself can be made to provide the rarefication required.
Hot air HA from the heat source HS is now directed on the location of the food product covering sleeve member sealing portion 108 of the covering sleeve member side wall 101 to shrink and clamp around the covering seal 121 after which the hot air HA is removed. This seals and forms the dry gas GS in the dry gas chamber DGS.
Then, the extra material of the covering sleeve member 30 that is attached to the cylindrical rod CR is cut off to create the covering sleeve member side wall end 110. The apparatus 10 is now ready for use.
It is anticipated that the cooling actuation means 40 is activated by finger f pressure to deform dry gas seal 123 before the food product release means 113 is used. However, should the food product release means 113 be used before the cooling actuation means 40, then, it is anticipated that the pressure drop due to the absence of a seal in the food product P and also within a carbonated food product container 20 will cause a relaxation of the food product container side wall 100 and thus compromise the integrity of the seal formed by dry gas seal 123 between the compartment forming sleeve member 102 and the covering sleeve member side wall 101 and the slight rarefication of the dry gas GS will cause a pressure difference between the dry gas chamber DGS (lower pressure) and the humidification liquid chamber w. In either case of the cooling actuation means 40, humidification liquid HL will naturally cause the humidification liquid vapor Vw from the humidification liquid chamber W to evaporate into the dry gas chamber DGS. The slight rarefication of the dry gas GS will cause a pressure difference between the dry gas chamber DGS (lower pressure) and the humidification liquid chamber w. In either case of the cooling actuation means 40, humidification liquid vapor Vw will naturally be forced to evaporate and enter into the dry gas chamber DGS by the pressure difference between the dry gas chamber DGS and the humidification liquid chamber W. This starts the cooling process by evaporation of humidification liquid vapor Vw into the dry gas GS. The same happens when the food product release means 113 is used before the cooling actuation means 40. The hold of the dry gas seal 123 on the food product container side wall 100 is weakened when the carbonation pressure is released from the food product P and the slight rarefication of the dry gas GS will cause a pressure difference between the dry gas chamber DGS (lower pressure) and the humidification liquid chamber w. In either case of the cooling actuation means 40, humidification liquid vapor Vw will naturally be forced by to enter into the dry gas chamber DGS. Humidification liquid vapor Vw passes through into the dry gas chamber DGS which has dry gas DG in it. The dry gas chamber DGS is anticipated to contain chemical compounds S within it. This causes further endothermic cooling. Dry gas GS evaporates the humidification liquid HL into humidification liquid vapor Vw and evaporative cooling occurs. The dry gas DG absorbs humidification liquid vapor Vw and this lowers the dew point temperature of the dry gas DG and it becomes wet gas. The heat of evaporation, H, is taken away by the dry gas DG as it becomes wet and lowers its dew point temperature. As before, the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D heats up as it sorbs the humidification liquid vapor Vw and the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space wall 133 which is tensioned by being stretch-formed, responds to the increase in its temperature by deforming and shrinking its area.
As before, when heated, the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space wall 133 shrinks its surface area and moves outwardly away from the food product container domed bottom wall 22 causing the volume of the dry gas chamber DGS to increase and thus generating a substantial lower vapor pressure in the fixed amount of rarified dry gas DG in the dry gas chamber DGS. This lowers the vapor pressure of the dry gas DG in the dry gas chamber DGS. The pressure in the dry gas chamber DGS is now lower and thus humidification liquid vapor Vw is pulled into the dry gas chamber DGS at an accelerated rate. This deformation of the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space wall 133 continues with the continued generation of more heat of evaporation h and causing the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space wall 133 to tend to flatten and thus increase the volume of the dry gas chamber DGS relative to its original volume. The deformation and flattening of the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space wall 133 causes the dry gas chamber DGS to increase in volume, and since there is a fixed amount of dry gas DG in the dry gas chamber DGS, a lower pressure is created inside the dry gas chamber DGS. The annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space 131 is also made larger by the flattening of the annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space wall 133. As before, this causes the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D to continuously shift, move, fall, and spread over the flattened annular plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber retention space wall 133. This spreading agitates the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D and makes it more effective as it assumes a greater surface area. Thus, dry gas DG is an electromotive heat transport means for humidification liquid vapor Vw into the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D without the need for a vacuum.
The combination of the humidification liquid HL and the plastic heat-shrinking vapor absorber D is summarized in table 1 below:
As before, a food product container 20 is provided with a food product container side wall 100 and a food product container top wall 107 and opening means 112 with food product release means 113. Food product container side wall 100 has the compartment forming sleeve member 102 with a compartment forming sleeve member side wall 105 with inward facing protuberances 103 preferably on the inside surface as shown in
Each reacting chemical compound RCC is held exclusively in a distinct compartment 105b. The dissolving chemical compounds can also be added to be stored exclusively in distinct compartment 105b.
The compartment forming sleeve member 102 has a compartment forming sleeve member sealing portion 105a forms a fluid seal surrounding the inward facing protuberances 103 with a food product container side wall 100. When the compartment forming sleeve member sealing portion 105a is sealed against the surface of the food product container side wall 100, the closed space forms the humidification liquid chamber W which holds reacting chemical compounds RCC and dissolving chemical compounds DCC in between the distinct compartments 105b of the humidification liquid chamber W.
A cooling actuation means is provided by massaging the compartment forming sleeve member 102 with finger pressure F against the food product container side wall 100 to deform the inward facing protuberances 103 against the food product container side wall 100 to permit the reacting chemical compounds RCC to mix with each other and react and generate a first endothermic cooling of the food product P. Advantageously, a second endothermic cooling can be achieved if dissolving chemical compounds DCC are provided to mix and dissolve with reaction released humidification liquid HL from their reactions. The invention as stated in the opening paragraphs provided the following advantages:
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 14/120,540, filed on May 30, 2014.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 14120540 | May 2014 | US |
| Child | 15932483 | US |
