Patent Application
20150354885
Not Applicable
The present invention relates to a system for externally cooling a beverage holder, a method of externally cooling a beverage holder and a method of producing an external cooling system for a beverage holder.
Beverage cans and beverage bottles have been used for decades for storing beverages, such as carbonated beverages, including beer, cider, sparkling wine, carbonated mineral water or various soft drinks, or alternatively non-carbonated beverage's, such as non-carbonated water, milk products such as milk and yoghurt, wine or various fruit juices. The beverage containers, such as bottles and in particular cans, are typically designed for accommodating a maximum amount of beverage, while minimizing the amount of material used, while still ensuring the mechanical stability of the beverage container.
Most beverages have an optimal serving temperature significantly below the typical storage temperature. Beverage containers are typically stored at room temperatures in supermarkets, restaurants, private homes and storage facilities. The optimal consumption temperature for most beverages is around 5° C. and therefore, cooling is needed before serving the beverage. Typically, the beverage container is positioned in a refrigerator or a cold storage room or the like well in advance of serving the beverage so that the beverage may assume a temperature of about 5° C. before serving. Persons wishing to have a beverage readily available for consumption must therefore keep their beverage stored at a low temperature permanently. Many commercial establishments such as bars, restaurants, supermarkets and petrol stations require constantly running refrigerators for being able to satisfy the customers' need of cool beverage. This may be regarded a waste of energy since the beverage can may have to be stored for a long time before being consumed. In the present context, it should be mentioned that the applicant company alone installs approximately 17000 refrigerators a year for providing cool beverages, and each refrigerator typically has wattage of about 200 W. As discussed above, the cooling of beverage containers by means of refrigeration is very slow and constitutes a waste of energy. Some persons may decrease the time needed for cooling by storing the beverage container for a short period of time inside a freezer or similar storage facility having a temperature well below the freezing point. This, however, constitutes a safety risk because if the beverage container is not removed from the freezer well before it freezes, it may cause a rupture in the beverage can due to the expanding beverage. Alternatively, a bucket of ice and water may be used for a more efficient cooling of beverage since the thermal conductivity of water is significantly above the thermal conductivity of air.
In the present context, it may be considered to provide the beverage container with an internal cooling element which may be activated shortly before consuming the beverage for cooling the beverage to a suitable low temperature. Various techniques relating to cooling of beverage cans and self-cooling beverage cans have been described in among others U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,567, U.S. Pat. No. 7,117,684, EP0498428, U.S. Pat. No. 2,882,691, GB2384846, WO2008000271, GB2261501, U.S. Pat. No. 4,209,413, U.S. Pat. No. 4,273,667, U.S. Pat. No. 4,303,121, U.S. Pat. No. 4,470,917, U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,164, US20080178865, JP2003207243, JP2000265165, U.S. Pat. No. 3,309,890, WO8502009, U.S. Pat. No. 3,229,478, U.S. Pat. No. 4,599,872, U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,273, WO2000077463, EP87859 (fam U.S. Pat. No. 4,470,917), U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,357, DE3024856, U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,241 (fam EP0498428), GB1596076, U.S. Pat. No. 6,558,434, WO02085748, U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,239, U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,191, U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,310, WO0110738, EP1746365, U.S. Pat. No. 7,117,684, EP0498428, U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,678, U.S. Pat. No. 2,746,265, U.S. Pat. No. 1,897,723, U.S. Pat. No. 2,882,691, GB2384846, U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,343, U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,237, WO2008000271, GB2261501, US20080178865, JP2003207243, U.S. Pat. No. 3,309,890, U.S. Pat. No. 3,229,478, WO2000077463, WO02085748.
The above-mentioned documents describe technologies for generating cooling via dissolution of salts, chemical reaction, or via vaporization. For using such technologies as described above, an instant cooling can be provided to a beverage and the need of pre-cooling and consumption of electrical energy is avoided. However, among the above technologies, the cooling device is large in comparison with the beverage container. In other words, a large beverage container has to be provided for accommodating a small amount of beverage resulting in a waste of material and volume. The beverage/cooling device size ratio has been unfavorable to such extent that a commercial utilization of the above cooling devices have been very limited. Consequently, there is a need for cooling devices generating more cooling and/or occupying less space within the beverage container.
The applicant has committed significant resources in researching a more space efficient cooling device which would be able to cool a larger amount of beverage using a smaller volume of the cooling device. Examples of such devices are described by the applicant in WO 2011/157735, WO 2010/066775 and WO 2010/066772. These cooling devices use an entropy increasing reaction in order to yield a more efficient cooling of the beverage.
One problem experienced using the above cooling devices located within the beverage container is that under some circumstances, the cooling effect of the cooling device is sufficient for creating beverage ice crusts adjacent the cooling device. Such ice crusts may prevent a correct dispensation of the beverage and further the user has to wait until the ice crust melts in order to consume the part of the beverage which has been converted to ice. Further, some beverages, such as carbonated beverages, will deteriorate when solidified. A further problem is the activation of the cooling device within the beverage container. The cooling device must either detect the opening of the beverage container or alternatively a pass through mechanism must be made in the container such that the cooling device may be activated from outside the beverage container. Yet a further problem is the case of leaking cooling devices which may cause the beverage to taste different or even have adverse effects on the health of the user.
German published patent application DE 21 50 305 A1 describes a method for cooling beverage bottles or cans. A cooling cartridge including a soluble salt is included in the bottle or can. By dissolving the salt in a specific volume of water, a cooling effect is obtained by utilizing the negative solution enthalpy. However, by using the negative solution enthalpy as proposed, the lowest temperature achieved was about 12° C., assuming an initial temperature of 21° C. None of the examples of embodiments achieves the sought temperature of about 5° C. By calculating the heat reduction in the beverage (Q=c*m*ΔT), the example embodiments achieve heat reductions of only about 15-38 J/ml of beverage. All of the examples of embodiments also require reactants having a total volume exceeding 33% of the beverage volume. Further, all of the reactions proposed in the above-mentioned document are considered as reversible, since the reaction may be reversed by simply removing the water from the solution. By removing the water, the dissolved salt ions will recombine and form the original reactants.
The German utility model DE 299 11 156 U1 discloses a beverage can having an external cooling element. The cooling element may be activated by applying pressure to mix two chemicals located therein. The document only describes a single chemical reaction including dissolving and disassociation of potassium chloride, saltpeter and ammonium chloride in water, which is stated to reach a temperature of 0° C. or even −16° C. of the cooling element, although the description is silent about the starting temperature of the cooling element and the efficiency of such external cooling. The description is also silent about any thermal losses to the surroundings which may occur using an external cooling device.
An object of the present invention is to provide a cooling device which may be used outside the beverage container in order to cool the beverage in a more controlled and safe way. Further, it is an object of the present invention to prevent any loss of cooling effect to the surroundings of the cooling system.
The above objects together with numerous other objects, which will be evident from the below detailed description of preferred embodiments according to the present invention are according to a first aspect of the present invention obtained by a system for externally cooling a beverage holder, the beverage holder holding a specific amount of beverage, the system comprising:
The system should be able to cool the beverage from outside the beverage holder, i.e. the cooling housing should never be immersed within the beverage. The beverage holder is construed to mean storage devices such as a conventional can, container, keg, bottle, glass or other suitable package, which is customarily used for storing the beverage during transporting and handling from the production site to the consumer site. Further, the beverage holder is construed to encompass tapping lines, trunks and coils which are used for transporting beverage from a storage device to a dispensing device at which the beverage is dispensed. Small tapping lines may be used in domestic and single use beverage dispensing systems. Larger tapping lines and trunks are used in professional systems, in which the beverage may be transported several meters between the storage device and the tapping device. The beverage holder typically has a cylindrical shape.
The inner wall of the cooling housing may be adapted for circumferentially enclosing and contacting the bottom, the top or the side surface of the beverage holder. The inner wall should be made of thermally conductive material which should be understood to mean a material that is inherently capable of transmitting heat energy in an efficient way, such as metal, or alternatively, a moderate heat conductor such as plastics may be used, provided the thickness of the inner wall is small. In order to achieve a large cooling effect, it is desirable to enclose a large portion of the beverage holder within the cooling housing. Preferably, a significant portion such as 70%, 80%, 90% or even 100% of said beverage holder is enclosed by said cooling housing; however, in order to merely maintain a low temperature of an already chilled beverage, it may be sufficient to merely contact a small portion of the beverage holder, such as 10%-20%. The contact surface between the inner wall and the beverage holder should be as large as possible, i.e. any air pockets should if possible be prevented. The inner compartment of the cooling housing should be separated from the beverage holder by the inner wall in order to avoid any accidental contamination of the beverage.
The two reactants in the inner compartment of the cooling housing should be held separately before activation of the cooling housing and when the cooling housing is activated, the two reactants are caused to react with one another. The reactants may be held separately by for instance being accommodated in two separated chambers or alternatively, one or both of the reactants may be provided with a coating preventing any reaction to start until activation. The two reactants should be substantially non-toxic, which will be understood to mean non-fatal if accidentally consumed in the relevant amounts used in the cooling housing. It is further contemplated that there may be more than two reactants, such as three or more reactants. The reaction should be an entropy increasing reaction, i.e. the number of reaction products should be larger than the number of reactants. In the present context it has surprisingly been found out that an entropy increasing reaction producing products of a stoichiometric number of at least three, preferably four or more, preferably five larger than the stoichiometric number of the reactants will produce a more efficient cooling than a smaller stoichiometric number. The stoichiometric number is the relationship between the number of products divided with the number of reactants. The reaction should be non-reversible, i.e. understood to mean that it should not without significant difficulties be possible to reverse the reaction, which would cause a possible reheating of the beverage.
Further, the term non-reversible should be considered to be synonymous with the word irreversible. The term non-reversible reaction should be understood to mean a reaction in which the reaction products and the reactants do not form a chemical equilibrium, which is reversible by simply changing the proportions of the reactants and/or the reaction products and/or the external conditions such as pressure, temperature etc. Examples of non-reversible reactions include reactions in which the reaction products constitute a complex, a precipitation or a gas. Chemical reactions, such as reactions involving the dissolving of a salt in a liquid such as water and disassociation of the salt into ions, which form equilibrium, will come to a natural stop when the forward reaction and the backward reaction proceed at equal rate. E.g. in most solutions or mixtures, the reaction is limited by the solubility of the reactants. A non-reversible reaction as defined above will continue until all of the reactants have reacted.
Many non-reversible entropy increasing reactions are known as such. One example is found on the below internet URL:
http://web.archive.org/web/20071129232734/http://chemed.chem.purdue.edu/demo/demoshe ets/5.1.html. The above reference suggests the below reaction:
Ba(OH)2.8H2O(s)+2NH4SCN(s)→Ba(SCN)2+2NH3(g)+10H2O(l)
The above reference suggests that the reaction above is endothermal and entropy increasing and generates a temperature below the freezing temperature of water.
Different from most solution reactions, it should be noted that the above reaction may be initiated without the addition of any liquid water. Some other non-reversible entropy increasing reactions require only a single drop of water to initiate.
The use of ammonia is in the present context not preferred, since ammonia may be considered toxic, and will, in case it escapes into the beverage, yield a very unpleasant taste to the beverage. Preferably, all reactants as well as reaction products should in addition to being non-toxic have a neutral taste in case of accidental release into the beverage.
An actuator is used for activating the chemical reaction between the reactants. A reactant may include a pressure transmitter for transmitting a pressure increase, or alternatively a pressure drop, from the outside of the cooling housing for initiating the reaction. The cooling housing may be arranged to activate when the beverage container is being opened; alternatively, a mechanical actuator may be used to initiate the chemical reaction from the outside of the cooling housing. The mechanical actuator may constitute a string or a rod or communicate between the outside and the inside of the cooling housing for activating the chemical reaction. Alternatively, the mechanical actuator may be mounted in connection with the container closure so that when the container is opened, a chemical reaction is activated. The activation may be performed by bringing the two reactants in contact with each other, i.e. by providing the reactants in different chambers provided by a breakable, dissolvable or rupturable membrane, which is caused to break, dissolve or rupture by the actuator. The membrane may for instance be caused to rupture by the use of a piercing element. The reaction products should, as well as the reactants, be substantially non-toxic.
One kind of activator is disclosed in the previously mentioned DE 21 50 305 A1, which uses a spike to penetrate a membrane separating the two chemicals. US 2008/0016882 shows further examples of activators having the two chemicals separated by a peelable membrane or a small conduit.
The volume of the products should not substantially exceed the volume of the reactants, since otherwise, the cooling housing may be caused to explode during the chemical reaction.
A safety margin of 3 to 5%, or alternatively a venting aperture, may be provided. A volume reduction should be avoided as well. The reactants are preferably provided as granulates, since granulates may be easily handled and mixed. The granulates may be provided with a coating for preventing reaction. The coating may be dissolved during activation by for instance a liquid entering the reaction chamber and dissolving the coating. The liquid may be referred to as an activator and may constitute e.g. water, propylene glycol or an alcohol. It is further contemplated that a reaction controlling agent, such as a selective adsorption controlling agent or a retardation temperature setting agent may be used for reducing the reaction speed; alternatively, a catalyst may be used for increasing the reaction speed.
According to a further embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention, the two separate reactants comprise one or more salt hydrates. Salt hydrates are known for producing an entropy increasing reaction by releasing water molecules. In the present context, a proof-of-concept has been made by performing a laboratory experiment. In the above-mentioned laboratory experiment, a dramatic energy change has been established by causing two salts, each having a large number of crystal water molecules added to the structure, to react and liberate the crystal water as free water. In the present laboratory experiment, the following chemical reaction has been tried out: Na2SO4, 10H2O+CaCl2, 6H2O→2NaCl+CaSO4, 2H2O+14H2O. The left side of the reaction scheme includes a total of two molecules, whereas the right side of the reaction schemes includes twenty molecules. Therefore, the entropy element—TΔS becomes fairly large, as ΔS is congruent to k×ln 20/2.
The above chemical reaction produces a simple salt in an aqueous solution of gypsum. It is therefore evident that all constituents in this reaction are non-toxic and non-polluting. In the present experiment; 64 grams of Na2SO4 and 34 grams of CaCl2, the reaction has produced a temperature reduction of 20° C., which has been maintained stable for more than two hours. According to the present invention, a cooling housing is provided based on a chemical reaction between two or more reactants. The chemical reaction is a spontaneous non-reversible endothermic reaction driven by an increase in the overall entropy. The reaction absorbs heat from the surroundings resulting in an increase in thermodynamic potential of the system. ΔH is the change in enthalpy and has a positive sign for endothermic reactions.
The spontaneity of a chemical reaction can be ascertained from the change in Gibbs free energy ΔG.
At constant temperature ΔG=ΔH−T*ΔS. A negative ΔG for a reaction indicates that the reaction is spontaneous. In order to fulfill the requirements of a spontaneous endothermic reaction, the overall increase in entropy ΔS for the reaction has to overcome the increase in enthalpy ΔH.
When employing a cooling housing externally in relation to the beverage holder, it is contemplated that heat from the outside, e.g. the ambient air or heat originating from the user, may be absorbed by the cooling housing and thus reduce the cooling effect of the cooling housing relative to the beverage holder. In order to reduce the amount of heat entering the cooling housing from the outside, the cooling housing should be enclosed by an insulating material. The insulating material should be a material having a thickness and conductivity chosen such that the heat transfer between the inner compartment of the cooling housing and the outside of the insulating material is lower than the heat transfer between the inner compartment and the inner wall of the housing adjacent the beverage holder. The insulating material is thus a material having a lower heat transfer coefficient than the material between the inner chamber and the inner wall. Alternatively or in addition, the insulating material may be thicker than the material between the inner compartment and the inner wall. Thus, a significant amount and preferably the greatest amount of heat absorbed by the cooling housing should originate from the beverage holder and not from the surroundings.
According to a further embodiment of the above aspect of the present invention, the cooling housing comprises a further layer of insulating material disposed in-between the inner compartment and the inner wall. In some cases, the cooling housing is capable of reducing the temperature of the beverage to below the freezing point of the beverage. In such cases there is a risk of ice crust formation within the beverage holder. In order to reduce the cooling performance on the beverage holder, the inner wall of the cooling housing may be covered by a layer of insulation material. In this way, the cooling performance on the beverage holder will be delayed and ice crust formation on the outwardly oriented wall of the of the beverage holder, i.e. the wall adjacent the inwardly oriented wall, may be avoided.
According to a further embodiment of the above aspect of the present invention, the cooling housing comprises a layer of PCM having a melting temperature of between −10° C. to 10° C. disposed in-between the inner compartment and the inner wall. In order to prevent ice crust formation on the outwardly oriented wall of the beverage holder, a PCM (Phase Change Material) may be used between the inner wall and the inner compartment. The PCM is understood to be a material which is liquid in room temperature but solidifies at a lower temperature. Preferably, the melting temperature of the PCM is a few degrees centigrade above zero. In this way, ice cannot form within the beverage holder since the temperature will not fall below the melting temperature of the PCM material until all of the PCM material has assumed solid phase. Since the heat of fusion is high for most PCM materials, a small amount of PCM may be sufficient for preventing ice formation in the beverage holder. The simplest option is to use water as PCM. The freezing point of water may be modified by additives, such as salts or salt hydrates, and/or by pressure. Other materials which may be used as PCM material and/or additives may include oils, fatty substances or glycol.
According to a further embodiment of the above aspect of the present invention, the inner wall defines a cavity for receiving a bottom portion of the beverage holder. In order to be able to use the cooling housing as a beverage coaster, the inner wall may define a cavity which merely contacts the bottom of the beverage holder and optionally a portion of the side of the beverage holder in order to improve stability.
According to a further embodiment of the above aspect of the present invention, the inner wall is adapted for circumferentially enclosing said beverage holder and defining an inner cooling space. Such cooling space may be used as a cooling box for cooling a plurality of beverage holders. Preferably, the inner wall forms a sleeve which may circumferentially enclose the beverage holder. Most beverage holders have a cylindrical shape which may be enclosed by a sleeve.
According to a further embodiment of the above aspect of the present invention, the inner wall has a heat transfer coefficient 2-100, preferably 3-10, times greater than the heat transfer coefficient of the insulating layer. In this way, the heat transfer between the inner compartment of the cooling housing and the outside of the insulating material will be lower than the heat transfer between the inner compartment and the inner wall of the housing adjacent the beverage holder. Since any heat absorbed by the cooling housing from the surroundings may be considered a loss, a high thermal conductivity of the inner wall will yield a more effective cooling. The inner wall may thus be made very thin or alternatively of a high thermally conductive material such as metal.
According to a further embodiment of the above aspect of the present invention, the cooling housing comprises a lid for completely enclosing the beverage holder. A cooling box, i.e. a cooling housing including a lid, may be used for completely enclosing the beverage holder and thus achieve a more efficient cooling by eliminating all thermal losses, which results by partially exposing the beverage holder to the ambient surroundings.
According to a further embodiment of the above aspect of the present invention, the cooling housing comprises a first and a second cooling housing part, each of the first and second cooling housing parts having an inner wall part and an outer wall part, each inner wall part of the first and second cooling housing parts being adapted for circumferentially encircling a first and a second beverage holder, respectively, the first cooling housing parts being connected through a central housing element of the cooling housing to the second cooling housing part, in which central housing element the inner wall of the first cooling housing part is connected to the outer wall part of the second cooling housing part, and, the outer wall part of the first cooling housing part is connected to the inner wall part of the second cooling housing part. In this way one single housing may be capable of enclosing two beverage holders. The first and second cooling housing parts are located on each side of the central housing element, which all together preferably form a unitary cooling housing body of shallow rectangular shape. The cooling housing should preferably be flexible in order to circumferentially enclose the beverage holders.
According to a further embodiment of the above aspect of the present invention, the first and second cooling housing parts define a first and a second housing end part, respectively, the first and second housing end parts being positioned juxtaposed the central housing element on opposite sides thereof. In order to achieve a
According to a further embodiment of the above aspect of the present invention, the cooling housing comprises a first and a second cooling housing part, each of the first and second cooling housing parts having an inner wall part and an outer wall part, each inner wall part of the first and second cooling housing parts being adapted for circumferentially encircling a first and a second beverage holder, respectively, the first cooling housing part being connected through a central housing element of the cooling housing to the second cooling housing part, in which central housing element the inner wall of the first cooling housing part is connected to the inner wall part of the second cooling housing part, and, the outer wall part of the first cooling housing part is connected to the outer wall part of the second cooling housing part. In this way, one single housing may be capable of enclosing two beverage holders as an alternative to the previously mentioned embodiment.
According to a further embodiment of the above aspect of the present invention, the first and second cooling housing parts define a first and a second housing end part, respectively, the first and second housing end parts being positioned adjacent each other on the same side of the central housing element. In order to achieve a letter B configuration, the opposing ends of the cooling housing may be located adjacent each other on the same side of the central housing element.
According to a further embodiment of the above aspect of the present invention, the insulating layer is made of polystyrene foam (“Styrofoam”), plastics, glass, paper or paperboard. The above materials constitute materials which are known to be thermally insulating and therefore suitable as insulating material.
According to a further embodiment of the above aspect of the present invention, the external cooling system comprises a plurality of cooling housings, such as 2-16, preferably 3-12, more preferably 4-8, cooling housings, said plurality of cooling housings together being adapted for circumferentially enclosing said beverage holder. In order to provide a more flexible system, the system may comprise a plurality of cooling housings, such that when the cooling housings are assembled about a beverage holder, the beverage holder is fully or at least substantially enclosed by the cooling housings.
According to a further embodiment of the above aspect of the present invention, the insulating layer constitutes an enclosure defining a beverage inlet and a beverage outlet, and the beverage holder constitutes a tapping line extending between said beverage inlet and said beverage outlet. The beverage inlet preferably has a piercing element which is capable of piercing a beverage container. The beverage outlet may have a tapping device for controlled dispensing of the beverage. The tapping line within the enclosure should be adjacent and preferably be contacting the cooling housing which is located within the housing.
According to a further embodiment of the above aspect of the present invention, the non-reversible, entropy-increasing reaction is capable of achieving a heat reduction of the beverage within the beverage holder capable of at least 50 Joules/ml beverage, preferably at least 70 Joules/ml beverage, such as 70-85 Joules/ml beverage, preferably approximately 80-85 Joules/ml, within a period of time of no more than 5 min. preferably no more than 3 min., more preferably no more than 2 min. The temperature of the beverage should preferably be reduced preferably by at least 15° C. or more preferably even 20° C., which for a water-based beverage corresponds to a heat reduction of the beverage of about 50 to 85 joules per liter of beverage. Any smaller temperature or heat reduction would not yield a sufficient cooling to the beverage, and the beverage would be still unsuitably warm when the chemical reaction has ended and the beverage is about to be consumed. Preferably, the chemical reaction produces a heat reduction of 120-240 J/ml of reactants, or most preferably 240-330 J/ml of reactants. Such cooling efficiency is approximately the cooling efficiency achieved by the melting of ice into water. The chemical reaction should preferably be as quick as possible, however still allowing some time for the thermal energy transport for avoiding ice formation near the cooling housing. It has been contemplated that preferably the heat or temperature reduction is accomplished within no more than five minutes or preferably no more than two minutes. These are time periods which are acceptable before beverage consumption. In the present context it may be noted that carbonated beverages typically allow a lower temperature of the cooling housing compared to non-carbonated beverages, since the formation of CO2 bubbles rising in the beverage will increase the amount of turbulence in the beverage and therefore cause the temperature to equalize faster within the beverage.
The above objects together with numerous other objects, which will be evident from the below detailed description of preferred embodiments according to the present invention, are according to a second aspect of the present invention obtained by a method of externally cooling a beverage holder, the beverage holder holding a specific amount of beverage, the method comprising the steps of:
The above method according to the second aspect is preferably used in connection with the system for externally cooling a beverage holder according to the first aspect. The external cooling system should be arranged about, adjacent or around the beverage holder or beverage holders, such that the inner wall of the cooling housing is contacting or at least is facing the beverage holders. When the user desires a cool beverage, the user may activate the actuator thereby allowing the beverage within the beverage holders to be chilled.
The above objects together with numerous other objects which will be evident from the below detailed description of preferred embodiments according to the present invention and are according to a third aspect of the present invention obtained by a method of producing an external cooling system for a beverage holder, the beverage holder holding a specific amount of beverage, the method comprising the steps of:
The above method according to the third aspect is preferably to produce a system for externally cooling a beverage holder according to the first aspect. The cooling housing is provided in a flat shape. The actuator is preferably applied before the deep drawing step. The deep drawing should be made without initiating the chemical reaction. The deep drawing should be made to conform to the beverage holders for which the system is intended. Preferably after deep drawing, the thermal insulating material is applied covering the outer wall of the cooling housing.
It is evident that any of the embodiments presented in connection with the first aspect are equally applicable in relation to the second aspect and the third aspect.
The above objects together with numerous other objects which will be evident from the below detailed description of preferred embodiments according to the present invention are according to a further aspect of the present invention obtained by a method of producing an ice pop comprising the steps of:
It is contemplated that various liquid products may be instantly frozen using the above method. In order to easily remove the ice pop after freezing, a further step of introducing a stick into said cavity of said inner bag may be performed before initiating the reaction. The inner and outer bags are preferably made of plastic material. Preferably, the outer bag comprises an actuator in order to initiate the chemical reaction of the reactants.
Although the present invention has been described above with reference to specific embodiments, it is of course contemplated that numerous Modifications may be deduced by a person having ordinary skill in the art and such modifications which are readily perceivable to a person skilled in the art should consequently be construed as being of the present invention as defined in the appending claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13152029.8 | Jan 2013 | EP | regional |
This application is the national phase entry, under 35 U.S.C. Section 371(c), of International Application No. PCT/EP2014/051096, filed Jan. 21, 2014, claiming priority from European Application No. 13152029.8, filed Jan. 21, 2013. The disclosures of the International application and the European Application from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2014/051096 | 1/21/2014 | WO | 00 |
