U.S. patent application number 12/566702 was filed with the patent office on 2010-01-28 for tabletop quick cooling device.
Invention is credited to Shaam P. Sundhar.
Application Number | 20100018223 12/566702 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 41567410 |
Filed Date | 2010-01-28 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100018223 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Sundhar; Shaam P. |
January 28, 2010 |
Tabletop Quick Cooling Device
Abstract
A tabletop cooling device has a housing that contains an ice
storage chamber with hinged cover. Adjacent to the ice storage
chamber is a chiller that also has a hinged cover. An ice maker is
container within the ice storage chamber to produce ice. A water
storage tank is provided to supply water to the ice maker. The
chiller contains a removable cage that holds cans or bottles of
liquid refreshments. The chiller holds water and ice to bathe the
cage in a low temperature slurry. A compressor, condenser and
associated components are used to produce the low temperatures
needed to produce the ice. In another embodiment, solid state
thermoelectric modules take the place of the compressor, etc. The
ice storage chamber and chiller are insulated with a high R rated
insulation. Rotation is controlled by a control panel which can
also monitor temperature, etc.
Inventors: |
Sundhar; Shaam P.;
(Princeton, NJ) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PATWRITE LLC
408 W. MAIN ST.
MARSHALLTOWN
IA
50158-5759
US
|
Family ID: |
41567410 |
Appl. No.: |
12/566702 |
Filed: |
September 25, 2009 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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11839420 |
Aug 15, 2007 |
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12566702 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
62/3.63 ; 62/344;
62/498 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F25D 2331/805 20130101;
F25D 31/007 20130101; F25D 2331/809 20130101; F25D 2400/36
20130101; F25D 2400/28 20130101; F25D 2331/803 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
62/3.63 ; 62/344;
62/498 |
International
Class: |
F25B 21/02 20060101
F25B021/02; F25C 5/18 20060101 F25C005/18; F25B 1/00 20060101
F25B001/00 |
Claims
1. A tabletop quick cooling device comprises: a housing; an ice
storage chamber disposed within said housing; said ice storage
chamber having a cover adapted to allow access to said ice storage
chamber; a chilling chamber also disposed within said housing and
generally adjacent to said ice storage chamber; a holder removably
disposed within said chilling chamber; a chilling chamber cover
adapted to allow access to said chilling chamber; a rotating means
for rotating said holder; an ice making unit disposed within said
ice storage chamber; a cooling means for operating said ice making
unit; and a control unit electrically connected to said rotating
means wherein said holder rotation is controlled.
2. The tabletop quick cooling device of claim 1 wherein said
cooling means is a compressor-type refrigeration unit.
3. The tabletop quick cooling device of claim 1 wherein said
cooling means is a thermoelectric refrigeration unit.
4. The tabletop quick cooling device of claim 1 wherein said
rotating means is a motor.
5. The tabletop quick cooling device of claim 1 further comprises a
water holding tank wherein water is supplied to said ice making
unit.
6. The tabletop quick cooling device of claim 1 wherein said holder
is a cage.
7. The tabletop quick cooling device of claim 1 wherein said holder
is a hollow cylinder.
8. The tabletop quick cooling device of claim 1 wherein said hollow
cylinder is made of aluminum.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/839,420, filed Aug. 15, 2007, the complete
disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] In early times, humans hunted and gathered the food they
needed each day. Techniques to preserve food were developed that
allowed humans to store food ahead of time. It was discovered that
keeping food cool increased the usable time to safely consume the
food. People started digging holes and constructing boxes within
the Earth to cool the food. Later people used ice in insulated
boxes to keep food fresh longer. The first practical demonstration
of artificial refrigeration occurred in the late 1700's with the
first practical refrigerator appearing in the 1830's.
[0003] Modern refrigerators may include frost free freezers,
climate controlled drawers, touch screen interfaces, beverage and
ice dispensing units and are just some of the features available.
Although the modern refrigerator represents a tremendous advance in
technology, there remains a need to quickly cool items for
immediate consumption. Often people will place a beverage be cooled
in the freezer only to have it explode making a mess when they
forgot about it.
[0004] There is a need for a portable, convenient chilling device
that can rapidly lower the temperature of a food or beverage to be
consumed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] A tabletop cooling device has a housing that contains an ice
storage chamber with hinged cover. Adjacent to the ice storage
chamber is a chiller that also has a hinged cover. An ice maker is
container within the ice storage chamber to produce ice. A water
storage tank is provided to supply water to the ice maker. The
chiller contains a removable cage that holds cans or bottles of
liquid refreshments. The chiller holds water and ice to bathe the
cage in a low temperature slurry. A compressor, condenser and
associated components are used to produce the low temperatures
needed to produce the ice. In another embodiment, solid state
thermoelectric modules take the place of the compressor, etc. The
ice storage chamber and chiller are insulated with a high R rated
insulation. Rotation is controlled by a control panel which can
also monitor temperature, etc.
[0006] Other features and advantages of the instant invention will
become apparent from the following description of the invention
which refers to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the top and front of an
embodiment according to the present invention.
[0008] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the back and top of an
embodiment according to the present invention.
[0009] FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the open position of an
embodiment according to the present invention.
[0010] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a bottle inserted according
to an embodiment of the present invention
[0011] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a plurality of cans inserted
according to an embodiment of the present invention
[0012] FIG. 6 is a front view of a tabletop quick cooling device
according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0013] FIG. 7 is a side view of the tabletop quick cooling device
shown in FIG. 6.
[0014] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the tabletop quick cooling
device shown in FIG. 6 with covers closed.
[0015] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the tabletop quick cooling
device shown in FIG. 6 with covers open.
[0016] FIG. 10 is a transparent front view of a tabletop quick
cooling device according to an embodiment of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0017] In the following detailed description of the invention,
reference is made to the drawings in which reference numerals refer
to like elements, and which are intended to show by way of
illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be
practiced. It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized
and that structural changes may be made without departing from the
scope and spirit of the invention.
[0018] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a tabletop quick cooling device
100 is shown having a housing 102 with a control panel 108 easily
accessible to a user. In the embodiment shown, tabletop quick
cooling device 100 is shown having two insulated covers 104 and 106
respectively. Air intake is provided through grills 105 and exhaust
port 110 is used to vent hot air to the environment. Tabletop quick
cooling device 100 is relatively lightweight allowing the device to
be easily transported. Of course other embodiments could include a
single insulated cover or a plurality depending on the desired
use.
[0019] Referring now to FIGS. 3 through 5, tabletop quick cooling
device 100 is shown having an optional wire rack 114 and may be
inserted within a cooling chamber 112 to facilitate cooling a
bottle 118 such as wine or soda or cans of beer or soda 120. Wire
rack 114 may be grasped with an insulated handle (not shown) and
removed by hand all or may be electrically powered for automatic
retrieval.
[0020] In one embodiment, a micro compressor is utilized to
compress a gas and then allows the gas to expand within elements
surrounding cooling chamber 112 and 116 as is known in the art to
provide rapid cooling. Utilizing a micro compressor allows tabletop
cooling device 100 remain portable and lightweight.
[0021] Another embodiment, utilizes a liquefied gas such as liquid
nitrogen to quickly cool any object placed within cooling chambers
112 or 160. The liquid nitrogen circulates in a heat transfer unit
that surrounds cooling chambers 112 and 116. No liquid nitrogen is
exposed nor does any food or liquid product come in contact with
the liquid nitrogen. In one embodiment, a filling opening is
provided to recharge the unit with liquid nitrogen.
[0022] Control unit 108 may include a timer, clock and calendar
function as is known in the art. A digital display may also be
included to display the temperature within the chambers 112 and 116
respectively.
[0023] Now referring to FIGS. 6 through 9, a portable tabletop
cooling device 200 is shown having a housing 255 that contains,
protects and provides an area to contain all the cooling, control
and storage capabilities of device 200. An ice unit 210 and a
chiller 235 are disposed within housing 255. Ice unit 210 has an
ice storage chamber 245 that holds and preserves the ice that is
produced by an ice maker 260. An ice unit lid 205 opens to allow
access to the ice and closes to preserve a constant storage
temperature. Rubber legs 240 are provided to allow air to flow
beneath housing 255 and to help stabilize the unit.
[0024] Chiller 235 has a liquid holding chamber 265 which holds
chilled water. A chiller cover 230 is provided to prevent liquid
from escaping from liquid holding chamber 265 while in use and to
help maintain a low temperature. The water is chilled using ice
from the ice maker 260. The ice is added to the water and a
chilling cage 250 rotatably engages with a drive rotator 275 and a
follower rotator 280. A power rotator 270 provides rotational power
to at least one drive rotator 275 to spin chiller cage 250.
[0025] Chiller cage 250 is at least partially immersed in a
chilling liquid and rotated to produce rapid cooling of any item
placed therein. In general, the liquid is water to which some ice
is added to produce a low temperature slurry. This allows for fast
thermodynamic transfer between the contents of chiller cage and the
low temperature slurry. Salt or other impurity may be added to
further reduce the temperature of the slurry as is known in the
art. Cans or bottles of liquid refreshments fit within chiller cage
250 and are rotated while in thermodynamic communication with the
low temperature slurry. Alternatively, a solid or mostly solid
cylinder (cylinder may have holes or openings to ensure that the
fluid makes contact with the surface of the cans or bottles) made
of a material having good thermodynamic transfer properties such as
aluminum or copper may be used in place of cage 250 to hold cans or
bottles.
[0026] A control unit 215 is provided to control ice maker 260 and
power rotator 270 as well as to control the temperature of ice
storage chamber 245. A plurality of control buttons 220 and
indicator lights 225 are provided as is known in the art. As an
example, power on/off, rotation, speed of rotation, temperature,
etc. are among the kind of controls and indicators that may be
provided. An ice shutoff switch 285 is provided to prevent ice
maker 260 from over filling. A water holding tank 300 is provided
within housing 255. A water fill port 295 is provided to fill water
holding tank 300. Optionally, a more permanent installation may be
provided by hooking tabletop cooling device 200 directly to a water
source as is often done with kitchen refrigerators equipped with
ice makers.
[0027] Ice maker 260 is a conventional closed loop pressurized
refrigeration system that uses refrigerants such as R-22 or R-134a
which is one of the newer ozone friendly refrigerants. Of course
other refrigerants may be used as is known in the art. The
compressor, condenser and other associated components are contained
within housing 255 in refrigerator component portion 290. Tabletop
quick cooling device 200 is operated by plugging it in to a source
of electrical power. Additionally, batteries may be provided if
more portability is desired.
[0028] In another embodiment, cooling is provided by using cascaded
thermoelectric modules as is known in the art to provide solid
states cooling along with ice making. Additionally, thermoelectric
cooling may be used to chill the inner surface of liquid holding
chamber 265 by lining an inner surface of a thermodynamic transfer
material such as aluminum with cascaded thermoelectric modules to
cool the liquid in contact thereon. The liquid will be cooled
without the need to add ice in this embodiment.
[0029] Another embodiment uses a liquid solution of water mixed
with a glycol such as ethylene glycol or propylene glycol. This
lowers the freezing temperature of the liquid allowing for faster
cooling. A high R value insulation is used to thermodynamically
isolate ice storage chamber 245 and chiller 235 form the ambient
temperatures. A suitable electric motor is used in power rotator
270 as is known in the art.
[0030] In another embodiment, an ice transfer connector allows ice
to be remotely added to the chiller. The user would press a control
on the control panel to automatically transfer a prescribed amount
of ice to ensure that the chiller will properly adjust the
temperature of the inserted refreshment. Additionally, a selector
could be provided to allow a user to select differing amounts of
ice delivered to the chiller based on the quantity or type of
refreshment to be cooled. For example, the user could select one
can, two cans, etc.
[0031] Although the instant invention has been described in
relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations
and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those
skilled in the art.
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