Refrigeration – Cooled enclosure – Portable receptacle
Reexamination Certificate
2001-01-05
2002-07-09
Doerrler, William C. (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Cooled enclosure
Portable receptacle
C062S371000, C062S530000, C062S125000, C062S246000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06415623
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to insulated containers for the protection of temperature sensitive goods and more particularly to an insulated container for the display and sale of chilled products at point-of-sale locations in stores, convenience stores, cafeterias, eateries, lunchrooms, hotels, outdoor pavilions, theme parks, county fairs, catered events, sports arenas, stadiums, convention centers, and the like.
Generally, for keeping temperature-sensitive foodstuffs, especially beverages, chilled, either an electrically refrigerated cabinet or an insulated container filled with ice has been used. For example, as a student passes through the lunch line he/she usually passes a large electrically refrigerated cabinet filled with cartons of milk. Also, convenience stores generally have point-of-sale insulated containers filled with iced-down beverages. There are numerous problems associated with either method of cooling individually packaged beverages as discussed in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 6,067,810 assigned to the assignee of the present applicant.
For example, traditional electrically refrigerated cabinets are large and cumbersome, and are difficult to access by small persons or children. The units are not easily movable and this prevents convenient rearrangement of the store, eatery or lunch line as needed. These cabinets generally require a substantial capital investment. Additionally, as with other similar appliances, the units require periodic maintenance. If the unit fails or a power outage occurs, the units are ineffective during the interim.
As a solution to the aforementioned shortcomings to an electrically refrigerated unit, insulated beverage coolers have been made that chill the beverages with ice in an attractive display. These coolers are basically large tubs that hold individually packed beverages together with ice, thus keeping the beverages in contact with the ice and cooled. Although these coolers are generally more mobile and convenient, they also are fraught with drawbacks.
Placing food or beverages on ice, although the food or beverage may be individually packaged, allows for the opportunity for contamination to the food or beverage by the melted ice. Sometimes the preferred product is packaged in a carton, like milk, and the carton becomes soggy after prolonged contact in ice and melted water. The melted ice may splash and spill out of the cooler, thus creating a slip-and-fall hazard. The beverages eventually may become completely immersed within the ice and water. This is inconvenient and also presents a health risk due to the spread of germs within the ice and water mixture. The accumulation of water as a cooling medium has the undesirable effect of impairing the degree of sanitation achievable and maintainable. There is a need, therefore, for a chilled beverage container that can maintain the required cooling effect on its contents while being mobile, efficient, sanitary, and inexpensive.
Decision Point Marketing, Inc. of Winston-Salem, N.C., has addressed this need by providing chilled item servers that require no electricity or loose ice. Exemplary of the chilled item servers marketed by Decision Point Marketing are the devices disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,067,810 and pending U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 09/578,575 filed May 25, 2000, and Ser. No. 09/301,709 filed Apr. 29, 1999, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. These devices generally include portable insulated containers having inner cavities lined with removable cold cells. The cold cells are formed of thermoplastic and have hollow cores filled with 1%-5% saline solution that can be frozen by placing the panels in a conventional freezer. Beverages are placed within the servers and subjected to the cool atmosphere created within the servers by the cold cells and are thereafter maintained at an effective temperature for consumption.
While the chilled item servers supplied by Decision Point Marketing have proven effective to eliminate the problems associated with electric or ice coolers, they may not be optimally sized for some point-of-sale applications. Because the overall size and capacity of each of these devices has been intentionally designed to address specific uses in the marketplace, they cannot be optimally adapted on a commercial scale to meet widely varying demands for units of different sizes or capacities. In particular, the cost of providing multiple molds of various shapes and sizes to produce an assortment of incrementally sized thermoplastic enclosures for these servers would be burdensome. Therefore, a need exists for an improved point-of-sale product chiller that can be economically produced in various sizes and capacities to address a broad range of market demands for such devices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention addresses this need in the art by providing a point-of-sale product chiller that includes a base panel having a top face and a bottom face, a pair of insulated sidewall panels each having an inside face and an outside face, and a plurality of modular, interchangeable, insulated, end wall panels each having an inner face and an outer face. A plurality of removable cold cell inserts having vertical edges are positioned along the inside faces of the sidewall panels and the inner faces of the end wall panels. The sidewall panels and end wall panels define a rectangular, upwardly-extending cavity for containing chilled product to be dispensed.
One or more bottom insulation panels may sit atop the top face of the base panel. A moisture tray with an upwardly extending lip may cover each bottom insulation panel so the lip fittingly engages the inside face of each adjacent sidewall panel and the inner face of each adjacent end wall panel. Preferably, the insulated sidewall panels and end wall panels each include a hollow outer shell with an insulating foam panel insert therein. These hollow panels are preferably formed of blow-molded thermoplastic. The removable cold cell inserts are sized and shaped to abut each other at their vertical edges, and the abutting vertical edges are configured to matingly engage each other to provide lateral support between adjacent cold cells in the chiller.
The chiller may be divided into multiple, rectangular, upwardly-extending cavities by including one or more insulated vertical central divider panels, each having a first and second face and extending laterally between the inner faces of opposite end wall panels. Preferably, each central divider panel includes a hollow outer shell with an insulating foam panel insert therein. The hollow outer shell of each central divider panel may be formed of blow-molded thermoplastic. A removable central cold panel is inserted adjacent each first face and second face of each central divider panel to surround each rectangular cavity with cold cells. In a preferred arrangement, the removable cold panel inserts adjacent each first and second face have vertical edges which abut the vertical edges of the adjacent cold cell inserts along the inner faces of the nearest end wall panels. The vertical edges of the adjacent cold cells are configured to matingly engage each other to provide lateral support between the adjacent cold cells.
Alternatively, the chiller may include one or more vertical central cold cell inserts in lieu of central divider panels for dividing the enclosure into multiple cavities. These vertical central cold cell inserts extend laterally between opposite inner faces of the end wall panels and have side edges that abut the vertical edges of adjacent cold cells along the inner faces of the end wall panels. The side edges and vertical edges of the cold cells are configured to matingly engage each other to provide lateral support between the adjacent cold cell inserts.
Because it may be desirable to promote or advertise products on the outside of the chiller or simply to decorate the chiller, a graphics area may be included on the outer face of each end wall panel for receiving replaceable indicia. A removab
Bertrand Stephen E.
Jennings Thomas A.
Pierce Theodore A.
Pierce, III Eugene C.
,MacCord Mason PLLC
Cold Sell Systems, LLC
Doerrler William C.
Shulman Mark S.
LandOfFree
Point of sale product chiller does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Point of sale product chiller, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Point of sale product chiller will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2853136