Cooling Vessel For Beverages

Abstract

The double-walled vessel includes a sealed chamber for a refrigerant which at least partially encloses the beverage compartment. The base of the vessel is surrounded by an annular channel slightly inclined toward the handle, for catching condensation drippings and directing them into a storage chamber beneath the drinking compartment.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to a device for serving cold beverages such as beer, soft drinks, cocktails, iced tea, etc.

There are presently available on the commercial market various types of drinking and serving vessels which may be pre-cooled and then used to chill beverages contained within them. Some of these vessels provide the necessary cooling effect by utilizing a refrigerant sealed within their exterior walls. There are, however, certain disadvantages common to most of the containers presently available. Two of these may be listed as follows:

1. While the vessel is in use, condensation drippings, which collect on the exterior surfaces, are likely to run off these surfaces and cause damage to furniture or clothing of the users.

2. In some cases, prior art vessels of the types described have a tendency to crack, causing the refrigerant to leak out.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is the principal object of this invention to improve refrigerating vessels used for drinking and serving liquids, more specifically, by providing for the condensation drippings that collect on its cool exterior surfaces; and further, by substantially reducing the tendency of vessels of the type described to crack or rupture upon being cooled.

These and other objects are attained in a drinking mug, or similar article, in accordance with the present invention which comprises an inner receptacle nested into an outer receptacle, forming between them an annular chamber in which a refrigerant is sealed. A principal feature of the drinking vessel of the present invention is that the base is formed with a surrounding annular lip having a slight circumferential incline which is shaped to catch and channel condensation drippings into a shallow storage chamber through a first perforation under the handle. A second perforation located above the first perforation permits air to be expelled from the chamber.

In preferred form, the vessel of this invention employs in its refrigerating chamber a refrigerant which changes state upon being stored for an appreciable period in the freezing compartment of an ordinary refrigerator, without undergoing appreciable expansion in volume. Moreover, the volume expansion of the refrigerant upon changing stage is preferably less than any change in the volume of the enclosing chamber, so that even through the refrigerating fluid substantially fills the chamber, the vessel is not cracked or caused to leak upon change of state of the refrigerant.

Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a study of the attached drawing and the detailed description with reference thereto.

SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a view, in side elevation, of an embodiment of the present invention in the form of a beer mug with a quarter section broken away on the right-hand side to show the interior.

FIG. 2 shows the bottom of the beer mug of FIG. 1 with the base in section.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The beer mug shown in FIG. 1, in preferred embodiment, is formed of a nontoxic material, characterized by a relatively low coefficient of thermal conductivity. It should be chemically inert to liquids of the type ordinarily taken internally, or used in the cleansing of food containers; and also, to the refrigerant. Examples of materials which are deemed to be suitable for the purposes of the present invention include metals, such as aluminum, ceramics, plastics, such as ABS resins (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene), melamines, polypropylenes and polystyrenes, and elastomers, such as chloroprene (Neoprene), although other materials may also be used.

In the present illustrative embodiment, the vessel, which may be formed by injection molding, or any other method known in the art, comprises an outer receptacle 3, which in the present example stands about 51/2 inches high and is 31/2 inches in diameter at the top. Outer receptacle 3 includes a pair of annular ridges 3a and 3b, of slightly larger diameter and about one-half inch thick, near the top and near the bottom, respectively, which serve as additional means for keeping the beverage cool. Between the annular ridges 3a and 3b, the receptacle is bowed-out slightly in semispherical fashion. The inner receptacle 2 is similarly shaped, having a slightly smaller diameter, about 33/8 inches across the top, which has an outwardly extending annular rim 2a. The inner receptacle 2 is nested within the outer receptacle 3 so that rim 2a fits over and mates with the upper rim of receptacle 3 to form a fluid-tight seal, in any manner well-known in the art, such as by plastic welding techniques, or by the use of an epoxy sealant between the mating surfaces.

The chamber 4, which is formed between the inner and outer receptacles 2 and 3, completely surrounds the lateral walls of the inner receptacle 3. At its broadest part, this chamber is about one-half inch wide. It is designed to be filled with refrigerant, of a form which changes state within a temperature range between 20.degree. and 40.degree. F., preferably without substantial change in volume, when placed in the freezing compartment of an ordinary home refrigerator. Change of state in a reverse direction occurs in the refrigerant when the vessel is removed from the freezing compartment and filled with a beverage (such as beer) to be cooled. One type of refrigerant useful for the purposes of the present invention slowly changes to a partly-vapor state by extracting heat from the beverage to be cooled. Refrigerants of this type include, for example, fluorinated chlorinated hydrocarbons, which are liquid at temperatures between 20.degree. and 30.degree. F. and which vaporize at temperatures between 30.degree. and 40.degree. F. when maintained at slightly subatmospheric pressure, say, between one-half and three-fourth atmosphere as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,394,562 of J. R. Coleman, issued July 30, 1968. It will be understood that many other types of refrigerants may also be used for the purposes of this invention, such as, for example, a water solution of glycerin, propylene glycole or, alternatively, eutectic mixtures of various aqueous salt solutions, such as sodium sulphate, sodium chloride, sodium nitrate, etc., or ordinary tap water, provided suitable provision is made for the expansion upon freezing. This may be accomplished by providing a hollow chamber in handle 9, which would accommodate the expanding ice when the latter ruptures a thin plastic seal at the point of contact with annular ridge 3b.

A refrigerant which has been found useful in constructing a specific embodiment of the present invention is sold in sealed cans by Windsor-Lloyd Products Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, under the trademark "Seal'd Ice". This liquid was sealed between the walls of a double-walled vessel comprising a plastic manufactured and sold under the trademark "Poly-Flex" by Republic Molding Corporation, Chicago, Illinois 60648.

As shown in FIG. 1, the outer edge of the base includes a lip 6 which curves upward and inward, forming a semicircumferential channel 6a around the outer receptacle 3. The lip 6 rises to a height of about one-half inch from the supporting surface, terminating at its upper end in an inwardly directed flange about one-fourth inch wide, forming a recess beneath it which is about three-sixteenth inch deep at the upper end. This circumferential channel is inclined on both sides of the vessel in the direction of the handle 9 at a small acute angle, of say, 21/2.degree., so that at its lower end it becomes about one-fourth inch deep.

The handle 9 is preferably injection molded to be formed integrally with the body of the vessel. It may be surrounded or covered with cork, or other material which acts as a heat insulator, so that the handle will not be cold to the touch. However, alternatively, the handle may be formed separately of wood or other materials which are heat insulators. In the present example, the handle is substantially rectangular in form, having its upper and lower ends integrally fastened onto the body of the mug at the upper and lower ridges 3a and 3b. If desired, a thumb rest 9a extends upwardly from the outer corner of the handle 12 to facilitate grasping.

Defined within the base 10 and below the bottom of the inner receptacle 3 is a cylindrical or frusto-conical storage chamber 11 which at its upper end under handle 9 is about three-eight inch deep, sloping at its lower end, opposite handle 9, to a depth of about one-half inch. A perforation 7, which may be, say, one-sixteenth inch in cross-section, is open between the lowest point of channel 6a and storage chamber 11. Thus, condensation drippings 13 running down the side of the mug 1 will flow into the channel 6a and then down the incline and finally into the storage chamber 11 through the perforation 7. As the storage chamber 11 fills up with water, displaced air escapes through a second perforation 8 which is preferably one-sixteenth inch in diameter and is located about one-fourth inch above the perforation 7. In a preferred embodiment, the floor 11a of the storage chamber may be inclined, in a diametrically opposite direction to the incline of channel 6a, at about an equal and opposite acute angle to the horizontal, thus permitting the condensation drippings to more readily enter the enclosed chamber 11.

The storage chamber 11 may be emptied by tipping the device in the direction of the handle 9 so that the liquid again runs out through perforations 7 and 8 and over the edge of the lip 6.

It will be understood that the scope of this invention is not limited to the specific form and arrangement shown in the figure by way of illustration, but may be of many other forms, shapes and materials, restricted only by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. In a drinking vessel comprising an outer and an inner receptacle, each of said receptacles having a base, side portion and an open top, the inner said receptacle of slightly smaller cross-sectional dimension than said outer receptacle, and nested therein, forming between the said receptacles a sealed chamber which at least partially encloses said inner receptacle, said chamber substantially filled with a refrigerant consisting at least partially of a fluid which sustains a change in state within a temperature range between about 20.degree. and 40.degree. F.,

said vessel including means for catching condensation drippings which comprise:

an annular lip surrounding the base of said outer receptacle comprising an upwardly and inwardly extended flange forming a channel, the nadir of said channel aligned along a plane forming an acute angle with the base of said outer receptacle, whereby said annular channel is substantially sloped toward one side of said base,

the base portion of said outer receptacle defining internally a storage chamber,

said storage chamber having a first aperture disposed at the level of the low end of said annular channel for receiving drippings collected by said channel, and

a second aperture disposed above said first aperture as an air vent from said storage chamber.

2. The combination in accordance with claim 1 wherein said sealed chamber is characterized by volume expansion which at least exceeds the expansion of said fluid upon change of state.

3. The combination in accordance with claim 1 wherein said refrigerant is a fluorinated chlorinated hydrocarbon, which is disposed to undergo a change of state from liquid to vapor at a temperature of between 20.degree. and 40.degree. F.

4. The combination in accordance with claim 1 wherein said inner and outer receptacles comprise a substantial proportion of ABS resin (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene).

5. The combination in accordance with claim 1 wherein said inner and outer receptacles comprise a substantial proportion of melamine plastic.

6. The combination in accordance with claim 1 wherein said inner and outer receptacles comprise a substantial proportion of polypropylene.

7. The combination in accordance with claim 1 wherein said inner and outer receptacles comprise a substantial proportion of high-density polyethylene.

8. The combination in accordance with claim 1 wherein said inner and outer receptacles comprise a substantial proportion of polyvinyl chloride.

9. The combination in accordance with claim 1 wherein said inner and outer receptacles comprise a substantial proportion of chloroprene known by the trade name "Neoprene".

10. The combination in accordance with claim 1 wherein said inner and outer receptacles comprise a substantial proportion of ceramic material.

11. The combination in accordance with with claim 1 wherein said refrigerant fluid is water.

12. The combination in accordance with claim 1 wherein said inner and outer receptacles comprise a substantial proportion of a plastic material known by the trademark "Poly-Flex", and wherein said fluid consists essentially of a refrigerant sold in sealed cans under the trademark "Seal'd Ice".

13. The combination in accordance with claim 1 wherein a handle comprising a heat insulating material is connected to a lateral surface of said vessel adjacent the low end of said channel.

14. The combination in accordance with claim 13 wherein a handle comprising primarily plastic material is injection molded in integral fashion with the lateral surface of said vessel adjacent the low end of said channel, and wherein said handle is at least partially covered with a heat insulating material comprising cork.