Patent Application
20210127890
The features and advantages of the present disclosure will be more fully understood with reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures, wherein:
This invention consists of: a) a cooling system, having multiple embodiments, for a fluid container which in preferred embodiments is a travel mug that allows the user to switch between an insulating mode that will keep liquid in the mug hot for hours, and a cooling mode to reduce the beverage temperature quickly when the user is ready to drink; as well as b) the fluid container itself, in various embodiments, that may feature such a cooling system.
Coffee and tea lovers have long wished for a way to enjoy hot beverages away from home. For a better flavor experience, they have demanded thermally insulated travel mugs that will keep their beverages hot until they are ready to drink them. They have also wished to be able to drink their coffee or tea when they want to drink it—without waiting up to multiple hours for their thermally-insulated beverages to cool to a comfortable drinking temperature.
Recent attempts to cool hot beverages quickly have utilized phase change material (PCM). A number of current products have proven that, whether deployed in submersible capsules or in travel-mug walls, PCM can absorb the heat of a beverage to cool it to a predetermined, safe temperature (around 140° F.), and then maintain that beverage temperature for a period of time.
However, a safe temperature for drinking is a poor temperature for brewing coffee or tea. Coffee experts say the best flavor is extracted from coffee beans at about 195-205° F. The ideal brewing temperature for black tea (85% of US tea consumption) is 208-212° F. Yet mugs with PCM in their walls start to cool a liquid as soon as it is poured in, so brewing tea or coffee within these devices cannot be accomplished at the high temperatures that yield the most flavorful results. Most travel mug users brew tea or coffee in a teapot or coffeemaker first, and then pour the ready beverage into their travel mug for consumption on the go. But since they may not drink their beverage until many hours later, the flavor, though fully extracted, may not be fresh.
In contrast, the current invention allows a user to enjoy fresh-brewed coffee or tea, made on the spot and cooled to drinking temperature in a few minutes, from water at the high temperatures required for richest taste.
The mug has a double-walled cap 1, shown in
When the device is used, to start, the cap is removed and either a hot beverage like tea or coffee already brewed, or hot water to be used later for brewing within the container, is introduced into tank 2.
Next, the cap is securely attached again. When the mouthpiece is folded closed, the device is leak-proof and can be transported without fear of spills. The air insulation in channel 3 will help retain the heat of the liquid in tank 2.
Later, when the user is away from home and on the go, and wishes to consume his beverage, he may find that the beverage is still too hot to drink. To cool the beverage, he starts by removing bottom 6, and then removing conductive sleeve 5, as shown in
The user now slides the segments of sleeve 5 together, so as to eliminate the gaps and reduce the diameter of the cylindrical sleeve, as shown in
Filling the formerly insulating gap of channel 3 with conductive sleeve 5 now puts the hot beverage in tank 2 in thermal contact with PCM compartment 4. The PCM, chosen to have a melting temperature of about 140° F., absorbs the heat from the beverage and cools it to that ideal drinking temperature within a few minutes. The user then safely dispenses and consumes his beverage by any one of the methods mentioned earlier.
The advantages offered by this design over prior art in which the PCM and liquid tank are always in thermal communication are:
(1) Insulating the beverage during transport and cooling it right before consumption may keep the beverage hot longer, and thereby prolong the window of time during which the beverage can be consumed before it becomes too cold (i.e., significantly colder than 140° F.).
(2) Users can brew tea or coffee at near-boiling temperatures within the device, for richest flavor, before the beverage is cooled. By contrast, devices of prior art employing PCM start cooling hot water to 140° F. as soon as it is poured in, and brewing tea or coffee at that low temperature generally produces weak taste.
(3) For the reasons just described, this device enables users to brew on the spot and at the moment of consumption, for freshest flavor. By contrast, to avoid brewing at sub-optimal temperatures within devices of prior art, users of those devices must first brew their tea or coffee in an external pot before filling the devices with the finished beverage—beverage which they may not consume until hours later.
Users of embodiments of this invention can brew within the device by inserting tea bags or coffee pods or other brewing elements, whether loose or packaged, into tank 2. But this invention also encompasses embodiments that comprise configurations with integral or detachable containers, compartments, enclosures, baskets, cups, etc. that may hold brewing elements, including the myriad brewing enclosures or attachments well known to those skilled in the art.
In alternative embodiments, there may be no conductive sleeve 5. PCM compartment 4 may normally constitute the outer sidewall of the device. PCM compartment 4 may have two or more sections normally separated by gaps. To cool beverage, it is PCM compartment 4 that the user would remove, compress, and then slide into channel 3 to achieve direct thermal contact with tank 2, without mediation of a conductive sleeve.
In other embodiments, a conductive liquid might be used to thermally connect beverage and PCM. As shown in
In use, tank 2 may be filled with hot water, and reservoir 4 twisted so as to block openings 5 to contain the coolant within the reservoir and leave space 6 a vacuum. The device, now in insulating mode, will keep the water in the tank hot for hours. Later, when the user is ready to drink, he will drop tea leaves or ground coffee into the tank and allow them/it to steep at the appropriate (high) temperature. Then a few minutes later, when the brewing is done, the user will twist reservoir 4 to unblock openings 5, and invert the device to fill space 6 with the liquid coolant. Now the hot beverage in tank 2 will be in thermal contact with the PCM through the intermediate coolant in space 6.
The selected PCM may have a melting point equal to the desired, safe drinking temperature (approximately 140° F.). After a relatively short time in thermal contact with the PCM, the beverage will cool to the PCM's melting temperature, as heat passes from beverage to PCM through the intermediate cooling liquid. Additionally, the beverage in this device will remain at the target drinking temperature for some time, because even as the PCM slowly loses its heat energy to the ambient environment, it will remain at its melting temperature until it fully solidifies again. The beverage, thermally connected to the PCM, will consequently stay at that temperature for an equally long time.
The device may remain inverted until cooling is complete. Alternatively, the user may lock the coolant in space 6 by rotating reservoir 4's flanges, and then invert the device again so that it remains upright during cooling.
In preferred embodiments, connector space 6 is a vacuum to keep the liquid contents of tank 2 hot for the maximum amount of time. However, the space could normally contain air or any other relatively thermally-insulating fluid.
Propylene glycol is non-toxic, and a 30% mixture has a freezing temperature of about 8° F., and a boiling temperature of about 216° F., so it should neither freeze nor boil under most conditions. But any relatively thermally-conductive fluid with suitable qualities of safety, stability and viscosity may be deployed in reservoir 4 and space 6.
PCM is a preferred cooling material to be deployed in sleeve 3, but any heat-absorbing material may be used. And sleeve 3 may be omitted completely so that the ambient environment acts as the cooling agent with which the beverage tank becomes thermally connected when connector space 6 is filled with a thermally conductive medium.
In some embodiments, liquid in tank 2 itself may be used to flood connector space 6 to initiate the cooling mode, without need for a special coolant, as illustrated in
All embodiments may deploy a cap, like cap 1 in
Using the device starts by rotating gear ring 7 to activate vacuum-insulation for the tank as shown in
To cool, the user rotates gear ring 7 to the position depicted in
The advantages of this design over prior art are as follows:
(1) Vacuum-insulation offers superior thermal efficiency, and will keep liquid in the tank hot a very long time, until the user is ready to cool his beverage to 140° F. and drink.
(2) User operation of the cooling system is simple and easy.
(3) Manufacture is simpler, quicker, and less expensive: Instead of the specialized machinery and machine operators of traditional stainless-steel vacuum-bottle making, only unskilled workers are required to attach the membrane with PCM compartments to the tank wall.
Elastic membrane 1 may be only partly elastic, and may have discrete sections that stretch, and others that are inelastic or rigid or semi-rigid. Membrane 1 may also incorporate reinforcement of Kevlar fabric, metal scales, or other penetration-resistant materials and elements, to prevent loss of vacuum by puncture. Membrane 1 may cover the entire outward surface of PCM compartment 2, or it may merely be hermetically attached to compartment 2 around all edges of the compartment.
One or more one-way valves (not shown) may be inset into membrane 1, as near the side, top or bottom gaps between PCM segments, or between PCM segments and tank, with the inlet of the valve communicating with vacuum space 4, and the valve's outlet leading to the ambient environment. The valve/s would maintain the quality of the vacuum insulation over time. Each time PCM compartment 2 is collapsed onto water tank 8 by rotating gear ring 7, any air that might have managed to contaminate the vacuum space would be expelled via the valve/s.
The camshaft/PCM compartment/membrane mechanism could be made and sold separately for use with any cylindrical travel mug or similar container. It should be understood that the camshaft mechanism depicted is only generally representative, and the concept encompasses variations that may have a different number, size, shape, or placement of cams and shafts, among other variables. This invention also encompasses other means of separating and joining the PCM compartments and liquid tank, including the many such means commonly known to those skilled in the art, like, for example and without limitation, a vise mechanism or levers that pry or pinch, actuated by a twisting, screwing, sliding, pushing or pulling action, or by magnetic attraction and repulsion of parts, or by electrical motor.
Also, in embodiments of the invention, the outer wall of the PCM compartment may be insulated, as, for example and without limitation, by thermally-insulating material constituting the compartment's outer wall itself, or by thermally-insulating material attached to the wall, or by thermally-insulating material constituting or attached to the elastic membrane enclosing the PCM compartment, or by a vacuum space or compartment adjacent to the PCM compartment's outer wall or membrane. Such insulation might further prolong the time that beverage would remain at 140° F. after PCM compartment and tank are connected.
An alternative embodiment of the invention is illustrated in
When in the cooling mode (
When tank 2 is raised, as in
The mating surfaces of tank 2 and PCM sleeve 3, in embodiments, may have plateaus, angles, or other geometric forms designed to increase surface area and/or decrease the amount of vertical displacement necessary to achieve desired vacuum space. The means of separating and joining tank and sleeve, though depicted here as by a particular screwing mechanism, can be accomplished in many known alternative ways, including, without limitation, by simple pulling and pushing.
In an alternative embodiment, illustrated in
As with other embodiments disclosed above, this embodiment may deploy a one-way valve 8 whose inlet opens onto vacuum space 7, and whose outlet leads to the ambient environment. As with relevant embodiments above, the one-way valve can be of any type, including, as a non-limiting example among many suitable valve types known to those skilled in the art, one with a flexible diaphragm at the valve's outlet. Such a one-way valve can flex outward to allow air to be forced out of the device, but is normally pressed tight against its seat by external air pressure and its pre-formed shape, so air cannot enter the device and spoil the vacuum.
Cap 1 attaches removably to tank ring 5 to allow tank 2 to be filled with liquid. Cap 1 may provide insulation for the tank, including by a vacuum space within it.
After brewing, the cooling mode is initiated by screwing apart or otherwise separating cup sidewall 2 from bottom plate 3 (
After cooling, the operation can be reversed by screwing the cup's sidewall 2 down tightly onto its bottom plate 3, and into full nesting with PCM compartment 4. The beverage, forced back within the vacuum-insulated confines of the cup, will be held at drinking temperature as the user consumes it at his leisure. Alternatively, after cooling, the user can opt to leave his beverage in contact with the PCM, and the PCM rather than the beverage cup's vacuum will maintain drinking temperature.
In the alternative embodiment shown in
In various embodiments, the cap of the device may incorporate or accept fixtures that facilitate brewing within the device. Such a brewing basket apparatus for tea, coffee or other infused beverage would permit flavor ingredients to be submerged in water or other brewing liquid, and/or separated from the brewing liquid, by a control or controls actuated externally to a brewing container. The objective is to enable precise control of brewing time by convenient external control that avoids the risk of spills.
Embodiments may include the cap illustrated in
The cap embodiment of
Basket 2 may be removably mounted under the cap in any one of various well-known ways, including by sliding or snapping into place. Basket 2 is also detachably connected to brewing dial 1 via basket spindle 3, which has threads. Spindle 3's lower end is threaded through a nut fixed in the bottom plate of the basket. Spindle 3's upper end terminates in a connector that mates detachably with the connector at the end of dial 1's stem, in such a way that when dial 1 is rotated in either direction, spindle 3 rotates as well.
The basket does not rotate, however, so when spindle 3 is twisted, its threads raise or lower basket 2's bottom plate.
In preferred embodiments, the side of basket 2's top segment is solid—not perforated like the other basket segments. And the basket's base plate is solid as well. Therefore, when the basket is fully collapsed, as in
In use, the user takes a travel mug equipped with the brewing cap of
In alternative embodiments, the device may deploy a cap combining a) the removable mouthpiece described earlier and depicted in
The leaves or grounds remain separated from the liquid in the travel mug or other brewing container by a watertight seal around all edges and surfaces of the collapsed basket. The bottom surface of the basket may be solid to contribute to the watertight sealing, or a solid plate may be made to press against the basket's bottom surface to seal. Basket edges may be sealed by gasket or o-ring, for example. All or some of the basket's sidewall sections may be perforated or mesh, or constructed in whole or part of some otherwise permeable material that will permit brewing liquid to flow into and/or out of the basket's interior when the basket is open or otherwise deployed for brewing.
Each of the bottom two sections is prevented from rotating during deployment by a z-shaped bracket or pin 7 that extends horizontally from the bottom of the section, stretches vertically in the space between the basket and the cavity wall, and then is inserted horizontally into a guide groove in the cavity wall. The guide grooves in the wall of the cap cavity prevent rotation of the bottom two sections as they are deployed.
The bottom section may have a follower that moves within a guide groove in the wall of the middle section that causes the bottom section to zoom out when the middle section is rotated. The middle section may have a follower that moves within a groove in the top section that will cause the middle section to zoom out when the top section is rotated.
The bottom section's z-pin is situated in a vertical cavity-wall groove so that the bottom section never rotates, but can slide up and down.
The middle section's z-pin is situated in a horizontal cavity-wall groove which intersects the vertical cavity-wall groove, so that the middle section can initially rotate but not descend, and after entering the vertical groove, can then descend but not rotate.
In operation, the basket starts collapsed. When the top section is rotated by the user's hand, the middle section rotates with it but does not zoom down because its z-pin is initially lodged in the cavity-wall's horizontal groove. As the middle section rotates, it zooms out the bottom section, which cannot rotate because its z-pin is in the cavity wall's vertical groove.
When the bottom section is fully extended, the middle section's z-pin arrives at the intersection with the vertical cavity-wall groove. As the user continues to rotate the top section, it zooms out the middle section whose z-pin now prevents rotation but allows vertical movement.
When the middle section is fully extended, the top section is lowered to the bottom of the cap cavity with a push, and all 3 sections are submerged.
This invention encompasses alternative mapping, placements, designs and interactions of guide grooves and follower pins, obvious to one skilled in the art, that accomplish the expansion and contraction of sections. The sections may move in a different order than that described in this embodiment or may move simultaneously. There may be one or more guide grooves and/or one or more guide pins in basket sections and cap cavity wall.
In preferred embodiments, flexible membrane 21 forms a watertight cover for the basket when collapsed. In some versions, membrane 21 is impermeable, and button 22 seals the top of the basket, so that water can only enter and exit the basket during brewing through the perforated or mesh surfaces of the basket itself. In alternative versions, membrane 21 may itself be perforated or mesh, and button 22 may leave the top of the basket unsealed when the apparatus is deployed, so that during brewing, water may enter the basket both through basket surfaces and permeable membrane 21. In that way, the volume defined by membrane 21 when unfolded might enlarge the effective volume of the brewing basket.
In
In
The embodiment in
The invention also comprises a beverage container equipped with the brewing basket apparatus described above.
To summarize, the advantages offered by the cap with collapsible brewing basket include enabling the user:
Any of the cap embodiments described can be used in any embodiment of this invention, as well as on other travel mugs, home or office mugs, insulated bottles, teapots, coffee pots, or vessels of any kind.
In some embodiments, a vacuum can be created in the separation space or channel between beverage cup and PCM compartment by means of: a) a one-way valve whose inlet connects fluidly to the separation space, and whose outlet connects fluidly to the ambient or the exterior of the device; and b) a vacuum pump. The vacuum pump can be any product capable of creating a vacuum, including numerous pumps marketed for the vacuum-sealing of packaging for food, as a non-limiting example. The simplest vacuum pumps for food sealing are extremely inexpensive and portable, and without modification can be used to create an effective vacuum with just 1 or 2 manual pumping strokes. Other compact food vacuum sealers are battery-powered, for more convenience. In one preferred method of use, the user positions the mouth of the vacuum pump over the (smaller) opening of the one-way valve of the invention. He or she then presses down so as to make a hermetic seal against the invention's exterior wall, and around the valve opening. Next, the user actuates the pump to suction out, through the valve, the air within the separation channel between beverage cup and PCM. When the user removes the pump from the exterior of the invention, the one-way valve will retain the vacuum just created.
The one-way valve and a vacuum pump can also be used in tandem with other means of vacuum generation to produce a vacuum of higher quality. The manufacture of vacuum-insulated thermal containers typically requires suctioning the vacuum-insulation channel with powerful machines. Significantly, this invention can generate a vacuum of 99% quality or more in a minute, with a stroke of a $10 pump and a few twists of the wrist. A preferred procedure is illustrated in
Whatever form of vacuum pump is used, the pump can be attached to the valve opening by direct pressing, by intermediate suction cup and/or tube, or in many other well-known ways.
The drawings and descriptions given here are illustrative embodiments of the invention, which encompasses all obvious variations, and variations known to those skilled in the art, including but not limited to variations in material, means of attachment or connection, and specific structure. For example, but without limitation, the cooling material in sleeve 3 of
In all embodiments, the PCM compartment could be a detachable, modular unit that the user could exchange for other modules containing PCM with different characteristics, including different melting temperatures, so that he could choose and vary the end drinking temperature of beverage dispensed by his device. Some embodiments may dispense with a cooling-material compartment altogether, and first insulate and then thermally connect the beverage tank to the cooling ambient air.
Thermal pads and other gap fillers may be used advantageously by all embodiments that promote heat transfer between components that do not have a common wall. In all such embodiments, a thin, thermally conductive pad or other medium may be deployed between mating beverage tank and PCM sleeve to compensate for surface irregularities and improve thermal conductivity across the interface. The pad or other thermal gap filler may have adhesive on one side, for permanent fixture to only one component, and no adhesive on the other side, to facilitate the repeated connection and separation of components required for mode changes.
All embodiments depicted here, as devices permitting the reversible thermal insulation of the beverage tank, can deliver faster cooling times than prior art by deploying PCM with a melting point lower than the target drinking temperature. The rate of cooling is proportional to the difference in temperature (ΔT) between beverage and cooling agent: the greater the temperature difference, the faster the cooling. Other products deploy PCM that melts at about 140° F. because once the beverage is cooled to this desired drinking temperature, the PCM—itself now 140° F.—will keep the beverage 140° F. until the user has leisurely consumed it. In those products, the beverage cools dramatically in the first moments, when it is hottest, while cooling slows dramatically for the last few degrees, when ΔT is small. Were those products to employ PCM with a lower melting point (100° F., for example), the PCM would have a lower temperature during cooling, the ΔT (beverage to PCM) would be greater, and the time to cool beverage to 140° F. would be shorter. Unfortunately, however, in that case cooling would not stop at 140° F., but would continue until the beverage was as cold as the PCM (100° F.)—and that would be too cold.
By contrast, the present invention disclosed here, featuring reversible thermal insulation and connectivity, can: a) transport a hot beverage and maintain its hot temperature for hours by vacuum insulation; b) thermally connect the beverage to PCM with a melting point (for example, 100° F.) lower than target drinking temperature; c) quickly cool the beverage to target temperature (around 140° F.) by virtue of a large ΔT; and d) reestablish a vacuum envelope to insulate the beverage at target temperature (140° F.) for as long a time as the consumer may need to drink it. A concomitant benefit of the ability to reverse the connection of beverage to PCM is that the user can choose to stop cooling at any temperature that suits him, instead of having to drink his coffee or tea at the invariable and pre-determined temperature equal to the melting point of the PCM.
Embodiments of this invention, accordingly, may deploy a means for informing the user of the beverage temperature, as, for example and without limitation, by analog or digital thermometer, perhaps similar to a meat thermometer, that is permanently integrated into the device, whose probe penetrates the device's cap or side, to sense temperature of beverage tank or beverage, and whose display is externally visible; or by thermochromic paint or other material on cap or side, similarly thermally connected to tank or beverage, that changes color to signal beverage temperature; or by electronic or electromechanical (bimetallic-strip) sensor, powered by external AC or DC source, or integrated solar, mechanical, chemical, or other power-generating mechanism or battery, with an external display either on the device, or on a remote display/controller like a cell phone.
This invention encompasses embodiments in which the functions of connecting and/or separating beverage tank and PCM sleeve or other components, and other physical functions, are accomplished by mechanical or electromechanical means, like, for example and without limitation, wax motors or electric motors.
All embodiments may feature an integrated heating element enabling the user to heat water or beverage to a desired temperature, and/or to maintain liquid at a desired temperature.
All functions of all embodiments described in this document can be powered, controlled and monitored as described in preceding paragraphs and in other ways, including remotely via Bluetooth or other means of connectivity to smartphones, computers, or other devices capable of such monitoring and control. And any function may be programmed to occur automatically, as appropriate for the user's purpose. For example, the device may be programmed to actuate a motor that separates beverage tank and PCM sleeve automatically, and without additional user attention, when the beverage reaches the desired drinking temperature.
This invention encompasses embodiments of any size and capacity, including (without limitation) compact travel mugs portable in briefcase, handbag or backpack, and operable in car or train, park or lecture hall while being held in one hand, as well as versions that may be larger or attached to external power sources or used mostly on kitchen or cafeteria countertop.
Although this description portrays the invention as facilitating the brewing of hot tea or coffee, it may be used to prepare any hot beverage involving brewing, infusing or mixing, including herbal drinks and hot chocolate. It may also be used to transport and then cool hot beverages that have been prepared outside of the device and poured in already made. It may also be used in applications outside of the beverage field, as in pharmaceutical, medical, scientific or industrial testing or processes.
In addition, the invention may be used, in any application, to deliver the reverse effect from that described above: it can transport a cold substance and maintain its temperature via vacuum insulation, and then upon demand, eliminate the insulation to facilitate warming.
It will be understood that there are numerous modifications of the illustrated embodiments described above which will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art, including any combinations of features disclosed herein that are individually disclosed or claimed herein, explicitly including additional combinations of such features. These modifications and/or combinations fall within the art to which this invention relates and are intended to be within the scope of the claims, which follow. It is noted, as is conventional, the use of a singular element in a claim is intended to cover one or more of such an element.
This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 62/689,109, filed Jun. 23, 2018, and titled, “INSULATING AND COOLING LIQUID CONTAINER,” the contents of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62689109 | Jun 2018 | US |
