Refrigeration – Hand manipulable tool
Reexamination Certificate
2002-03-01
2003-06-24
Topolcai, William E. (Department: 1761)
Refrigeration
Hand manipulable tool
C062S294000, C062S371000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06581401
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of food and beverage containers and to processes for manufacturing such containers. More specifically the present invention relates to a self-cooling container apparatus containing a beverage or other food product, a method of cooling said food products, and to methods of assembling and operating the apparatus. The terms “beverage,” “food,” “food products” and “container contents” are considered as equivalent for the purposes of this application and used interchangeably.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have previously been self-cooling containers for cooling the contents such as food or beverages that include flexible and deformable refrigerant receptacles with widely spaced apart, rigid receptacle walls, and methods of manufacturing these containers. These prior art do not address the real issues of manufacturing and beverage plant operations that are crucial for the success of a self-cooling beverage container program. All prior art designs fail when subjected to the immense pressures (about 45-60 psi) of the carbonated filling process and fail to maintain the container column strength. The sudden blast of carbon-dioxide inside a container during filling, can destroy any thin-walled internal container, and collapse its walls so that the functionality of the apparatus will be impaired. Also, the sudden collapse of such internal containers, can cause the can itself to loose column strength, and collapse under the clamping force that is applied for sealing the can during filling. Many trials and designs were done to obtain the present configuration of the disclosed receptacle of this invention.
For example when an internal receptacle is used as a refrigerant storage receptacle, the beverage filler head pressurizes its external walls and crushes the receptacle, since such receptacles are generally made from thin walled materials for rapid heat transfer, they can be easily crushed by external pressure and cannot survive the forces of the high speed manufacturing process. Thus, failure of the internal receptacle, can also result in the sudden collapse of the container walls. Even with prior designs of co-seamed internal receptacles such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,300 to the present inventor the problem was still not solved. Also, the high speed beverage plants require high speed compatible operations for manufacture of an online self-cooling beverage container. For example, prior art designs do not address easy insertion, self-aligning of the receptacle with the container and so on. Further, most prior art relies on a separate unintegrated manufacturing process for the attachment of the receptacle to the container. The prior art differs from the current disclosed invention in that they all require complicated valving for activation of the cooling process. Most use rubber seals, gaskets and expensive attachment means. The present invention does not require a special valving system. Just two parts that form the receptacle and the attachment means to the can suffice to form a self acting valve based on the opening of the container for consumption.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention accomplishes the above-stated objectives, as well as others, as may be determined by a fair reading and interpretation of the entire specification.
For the preferred of several possible embodiments, the apparatus includes a conventional beverage or food container such as a metal or plastic can for containing a product to be consumed. The container has a conventional unified domed bottom wall, and a cylindrical side container wall terminating in an upper container sealing rim. A container sealing lid is also provided for sealing off the container contents inside the container. A hole passes through the center of the domed bottom wall of the container making fluid communication between the inside and the outside of the container. The apparatus further comprises a thin walled plastic or metal receptacle with substantially the shape of a small plastic or metal bottle with a bottle neck. With the said receptacle oriented so that it sits on a bottom wall rim and with the open bottle neck facing an upwardly direction, the receptacle comprises a substantially horizontal round top wall with an upward facing surface and a downward facing surface. From the center of the upward facing surface is joined a short smaller diameter cylindrical receptacle neck protrusion which terminates with a thin receptacle open neck round flange. Said receptacle open neck flange having a slightly larger diameter than the cylindrical receptacle neck. The receptacle top wall has a diameter that is greater than the diameter of the receptacle open neck protrusion. The top wall and the receptacle neck form a continuous unified wall of the receptacle with the receptacle open neck also passing through the receptacle top wall as an entry way for ingredients that are to be stored inside the receptacle. A receptacle side wall sealingly joins the receptacle top wall protruding in the downward direction to sealingly join a substantially round receptacle bottom wall. Thus, the receptacle walls are all joined together to form continuous bottle with an open neck. The receptacle bottom wall is designed to be slightly flexible and to flex up and down the axis of the receptacle, so as to increase the overall length of the receptacle when the pressure acting inside the receptacle walls is greater than the pressure acting outside the receptacle walls. In general the walls of the receptacle are flexible and thin relative to its size. The receptacle is designed to be handled easily for manufacturing the self-cooling container so that the processes that would be encountered during the manufacturing would be easily accomplished because of the way the receptacle is designed and works. The receptacle is designed to store a liquified refrigerant or a matrix held refrigerant such as a combination of CO2 and carbon atoms, at a minimal pressure difference across its walls by means of equilibration with beverage pressure, and when the refrigerant pressure acting inside the receptacle walls equilibrates with beverage pressure acting outside the receptacle walls. The refrigerant may be designed as a slurry of an activated carbon matrix with CO2 gas trapped inside the matrix. The receptacle sealed bottom wall is flexible. A substantially conical valve seat protrusion protrudes outwardly in a downward direction from the center of the receptacle bottom wall. The inside wall of the valve seat recess is designed to sealingly mate with the outer bottom edge of a substantially tubular stem valve, so that liquified refrigerant contained inside the receptacle will not boil and escape from within the receptacle when the pressure outside the receptacle is greater than the pressure of the refrigerant gas contained inside the receptacle. Advantageously, the receptacle valve seat recess will not form a seal with the stem valve outer bottom edge if the outside pressure acting on the receptacle walls is less than the liquified refrigerant pressure acting on inside walls of the receptacle.
The apparatus further comprises a stem valve for mating with the receptacle. The stem valve is a substantially tubular valve with a sealing cup flange attached near one end of the stem valve. The sealing cup flange is shaped like a shallow bowl of a diameter of approximately 1 inch and a depth of about ¼ inch, for sealing against the bottom wall of the beverage container. A short cylindrical tube of a length of about ½ inches and diameter ⅜ inch protrudes from the outer surface of the sealing cup flange and connects to a conical tube stem valve body of a length of about 3 inches. The dimensions given are only for the sake of comparative clarity of the present invention, and should not be construed as the only possible dimensions for the parts of the apparatus. A short small cylindrical stud protrudes from the inside surface of the sealing cup
Oltman Flynn & Kubler
Topolcai William E.
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