Refrigeration – Cooled enclosure – Portable receptacle
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-08
2001-05-29
Doerrler, William (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Cooled enclosure
Portable receptacle
C062S457800, C062S459000, C062S463000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06237360
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is generally related to beverage cooling apparatuses, and more particularly to a device for cooling wine bottles and other beverage containers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention provides a means of efficiently, sanitarily and conveniently chilling, refrigerating or storing bottles or beverage containers that are best when stored or served cold. The conventional placement method to either chill, refrigerate or store bottles or beverage containers is to place the bottle or beverage container itself, directly in the refrigerator or an ice maker or ice bin.
The method of placing a bottle or beverage container in a residential ice maker or commercial ice bin is usually complicated due to the fact that the bottle or beverage container becomes slippery when wet and the bottle or beverage container labels typically fall off or begin to disintegrate into the ice bin area when left for any length of time, no matter how brief. When the labels come off in a residential ice maker bin or commercial ice bin, the end result is that particles of the label sink to the bottom of the bin and clog the ice maker or ice bin drainage line, thus resulting in a water removal problem since the water from melting ice stays in the ice bin and ultimately overflows onto the floor or some other area. A plumber must then be called to unclog the drainage line and any damage to the floor or cabinet area must be repaired.
Another problem is that the bottles or beverage containers typically sink to the bottom of the ice bins and must then be located and retrieved in the sanitized ice either by someone's hand or by some other instrument. When placing bottles or beverage containers in an ice bin for commercial purposes, such as a bar or restaurant situation, the bottles or beverage containers are placed in the ice bin that also provides ice for the drinks by its patrons. This situation provides the opportunity for a bottle or beverage container to get broken in the ice bin when another bottle or beverage container is slammed into the ice after a drink has been poured.
It also provides an extremely unsanitary situation by contaminating the sanitized ice since these bottles or beverage containers are handled by numerous people, are not cleaned off every time they are removed from the ice before being placed back into the ice bin and are typically stored in the same ice bin that provides the ice utilized for patrons drinks. The commercial ice bin in which the bottles and beverage containers are placed or stored is rarely separated from the ice used in the patron glasses.
When most bottles are placed in a residential refrigeration unit after opening, such as wine, the bottle is usually too tall to stand upright in the refrigerator once the cork has been replaced in the bottle after opening. The bottle is usually laid on its side in the refrigerator, resulting in the bottle dripping liquid on the shelves of the refrigerator due to a poor seal from the cork being reinserted into the open bottle.
This cylindrical receptacle provides a convenient, sanitary, organized, effective method, whether for residential or commercial use, for the complete or partial storage or placement of a beverage container(s) or bottle(s) that is best when served cold or chilled.
It is an objective of the invention to provide a sanitary and effective means to place or store beverage containers and bottles in ice makers, ice bins, ice chests, or in refrigerated units.
It is also an objective of the invention to provide a receptacle that will cool or chill beverage containers or bottles in an organized fashion while aiding in the elimination of breakage or spilled liquids.
It is another objective of the invention to provide an inexpensive chilling or storing receptacle to be utilized in an ice bin for beverage containers or bottles.
The present invention achieves technical advantages as a convenient beverage cooling device adapted to be placed in a cooling chamber, such as a freezer, or even integrally forced into the cooling chamber to cool a beverage container without allowing the beverage container to get wet.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5444992 (1995-08-01), Bell
patent: 5983662 (2000-04-01), Luetsch
patent: 6050104 (2000-04-01), Corona
Doerrler William
Jackson & Walker, LLP
Shulman Mark S.
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