COOLING CONTAINER.

DESCRIPTION

A cooling container and a cooling method for beverages, in particular in bottle, which are to be served at a certain temperature, as for example wine and beer, constitute the subject of the present invention.

Application fields of the invention are food services as well as accessories for bar, wine bar specialized in beverages needed to be served in bottle and to be kept cold at a constant temperature.

One of the problems sommeliers have during wine service is that the temperature to which wine has to be served and tasted needs to be constant all over meal duration or related tasting, for example 18°C for a structured wine as Barolo or Taurasi, 16°C for Pinot Nero, 14°C for Lambrusco or Gragnano, 12°C for good white wine, 10°C for fresh water, not chilled. Currently, devices able to storage and maintain wine at right temperature are available, as refrigerating cells and wine cellars, meanwhile cooling containers of simple fabrication, cheap and efficient to keep constant the service temperature of a wine bottle all over a meal or a tasting are not yet available.

At present, the most used approach in case of need to serve a bottle of wine to be kept cooled mainly provides the use of wine bucket wherein a bottle is immersed straight in touch with ice. Such wine buckets, as known, quickly lead a bottle temperature from a start temperature of a refrigerating cell about 12-16°C to a temperature of 5-6°C after a period of immersion therein, de facto frustrating the accurate conservation of wines at a determined and chosen temperature in order to consent a full tasting experience of wine bottles.

In the state of the art cooling container having a central basket apt to house a bottle of wine in a substantially vertical position, cylindrical shaped with a circular or truncated conical base and made of a material with good thermal conductivity, as aluminium, are provided. Externally to the central basket and in touch with one or more outer walls thereof, in various fittings, cooling material is housed, in particular ice, which is not directly in touch with a bottle herein contained. Such known containers are not successful to keep constant and of simple evaluation a bottle temperature from an operator aimed to serve a bottle, for example, at a certain temperature for a certain time. For example in US 4,255,944, ice is located in a closed housing under the central basket, therefore in a position being difficult to be reached by an operator. Moreover, gravity does not help the contact between the bottom of the central basket and the housed ice, so not allowing both the central basket bottom and walls to be efficiently cooled and in a predictable way.

The present invention is aimed to solve the prior art drawbacks as above mentioned and to indicate a cooling container and a cooling method for beverages, in particular in bottle, simply to be implemented and effective to keep a bottle temperature constant also in environments at high temperature. Main purpose of the invention is that of finding a new way, alternative to prior art, to carry out a cooling container of simple implementation, convenient to be utilized and apt to keep, through the cooling method, a bottle to a certain and constant temperature in whichever condition of temperature and sun exposition an operator is going to operate.

An aim of the present invention is that of carrying out a cooling container convenient to be handled and simple to be operatively fitted, where a bottle extraction from it results immediate. Another aim is that of implementing a cooling method to fit the container with the right amount of cooling means in order to keep bottle temperature constant along time, at least during all a tasting period.

In order to satisfy these aims, a cooling container and a cooling method for beverages, in particular in bottle, according to the features of the enclosed claims form the subject of the present invention.

The writer has been observing that these aims are satisfied, in a form of realization of the invention, by means of a cooling container comprising a main body split in a basket adapted to house a bottle to be cooled and a lateral housing for containing cooling means, in particular solid or crushed ice, fitted from a side of a central basket through interposition of a wall made of material with good thermal conductivity or thermal wall. The thermal wall is shaped such in a way the bottle is in touch thereon along a determined and calculable touching surface: the wall can be, for example, flat and the touching surface a narrow longitudinal crosswalk, as well as of such shape to grant the touching with a bottle leaning at least against a well defined couple of longitudinal surfaces, in particular a couple of narrow crosswalks. Touching between bottle and thermal wall is granted by shifting means of the bottle to be cooled toward the thermal wall in association to the main body, for example on the bottom of the central basket.

With such a solution, the cooling container is advantageously able to adapt to various outer environments to keep constant the bottle temperature insomuch as it is possible to vary and adjust the amount and type of the cooling means being housed in the lateral housing, typically ice cubes o crushed ice, which are in touch with the thermal wall and therefore they directly transmit cold to the bottle through well determined and established touching surfaces for a fine adjustment of the thermal exchanging.

In the present document the wording "bottle" has to be intended in a very wide meaning, that is whichever containers of beverages made of material able to transfer thermal energy to its content, as for example tins, aluminium packages and alike, as well as beverages can be the most various ones, as for example water and fruit juices, although the document is mainly focused on wine. Further aims, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent by the way of a following detailed description of a plurality of preferred embodiments of the invention and related variants, which are illustrated in a fully explicative and not limitative way with the help of the enclosed figures, wherein:

- figure 1 illustrates a schematic perspective view in transparency of a first embodiment of the cooling container according to the invention;

- figures 2, 3 and 4 represent respectively a view from above and two lateral longitudinally sectional views of the container of figure 1, figure 4 in an operative condition thereof;

- figures 5 and 6 represent lateral longitudinally sectional views of a variant of the cooling container of figure 1, respectively in two different operative conditions,

- figures 7 and 8 illustrate lateral longitudinally sectional views of a second embodiment of the container according to the invention, respectively in two different operative conditions with a detail in evidence;

- figures 9 and 10 illustrate lateral longitudinally sectional views of a third embodiment of the container according to the invention, respectively in two different operative conditions;

- figures 11-14 illustrate a basket variant of figure 9, respectively in a longitudinally sectional view, a cross sectional view, a cross sectional view in an operative condition and a longitudinally sectional view of a particular;

- figure 15 illustrate different embodiments of the sectional cross view development of a basket detail of figures 11-14;

- figures 16 and 17 illustrate two graphics related to the cooling method according to the invention.

With reference in particular to figures 1-14, a cooling container for bottles, which is made of a main body 11 split in a basket 12 adapted to house a bottle B to be cooled and a cooling chamber 16 adapted to contain cooling means for cooling the bottle B, for example simple crush ice or ice cubes 20, is illustrated with 10 in its whole. Cooling chamber 16 is opened on the upper part and next to the basket 12, which is opened on the upper part too, through interposition of a surface 14 made at least in part of material with good thermal conductivity or thermal wall. More in detail, cooling chamber 16 is placed on a side of the basket 12, being made in particular all of a piece with it to form the main body 11 in order to simplify basket 10 fabrication, with interposition of a wall made at least in part of material with good thermal conductivity, for example a metallic material as aluminium, tin or alike, being denominated hereinafter thermal wall 14, which occupies at least part of a lateral surface of the basket 12, in particular substantially the whole lateral surface.

Main body 11 provides, in particular associated to the basket 12, shifting means of the bottle B to be cooled toward the thermal wall 14, being indicated in the whole with 30. Thermal wall 14 is shaped such in a way that the bottle B is in touch thereon along a determined and calculable touching surface S. This configuration of the cooling container 10 advantageously allows to implement with satisfaction the cooling method as hereinafter detailed, in order to carry out a cooling thermal flow between thermal wall 14 and bottle B by means of the touching surface S able to keep temperature of bottle B, and related content thereof, substantially constant at a certain willed temperature for several hours, as experimentally verified from the writer. This is advantageous for a client, who preserves intact smelling and tasting pleasure of the bottle content, in particular when wine is concerned.

With particular reference to figures 1-10, basket 12 and cooling chamber 16 are substantially of a cylindrical shape with rectangular base, closed on the lower part and opened on the upper part to allow a simple insertion and extraction respectively of a bottle B to be cooled from above and of cooling means 20. Thermal wall 14 provides a substantially flat surface, in particular occupying substantially the whole height of at least part of the lateral surface of the basket 12, for example being made of a flat aluminium plate glued watertight on borders. In figures 4, 6, 8, 10 the cooling container 10 including bottle B in the basket 12 in touch with the thermal wall 14 through the touching surface S is illustrated, in these embodiments being constituted by a longitudinal crosswalk as defined on a lateral surface of the bottle B in its part providing a rectilinear directrix, that is forced to be in touch with the substantially flat thermal wall 14 by means of shifting means 30. Therefore, taken in consideration a certain bottle B to be cooled being shaped for example as the one illustrated in figures, the same is in touch along a determined and calculable touching surface S, that is the longitudinal crosswalk as above specified.

With particular reference to the first cooling container embodiment of figures 1-4, shifting means of the bottle B to be cooled toward the thermal wall 14 are for example constituted by a tilted plane 30, in particular operated next to the lower edge of the basket 12 bottom in opposition to the thermal wall 14, providing slope apt to make the bottle B shifting toward the thermal wall 14, in particular the bottle B going in touch with the tilted plane 30 with a respective lower edge. Advantageously, once the bottle B is inserted from the upper side into the basket 12, for gravity its lower edge shifts downward, allowing rotation around it too, till its flat lateral surface comes full in touch with the flat part of the thermal wall 14 where it comes to lean against, so univocally determining the touching surface S, substantially made of a narrow flat longitudinal crosswalk. Through such configuration, advantageously a constant and defined touching between the thermal wall 14 and a lateral part of bottle B surface is implemented, so that the thermal cooling flow between cooling means 20 and bottle B and related content thereof can be calculated with precision, so allowing the bottle content to be kept at a certain constant temperature whichever would be the outer weather condition, as temperature and sun exposition, by raising or lowering the cooling power of the related means, for instance raising or lowering the amount of solid or crushed ice inside the cooling chamber 16 according to the needed cooling flow. To such an aim, cooling chamber 16 is provided with cooling power adjusting means of the cooling means, in the embodiment adjusting means of the amount of ice 20 contained therein, for example a set of indentations 18 viewable at least from the inside of a lateral wall of said chamber 16, for example being on the wall opposed to the thermal wall 14. Tilted plane 20 is in particular made all in one piece with basket 12 and so it advantageously results reliable, simple and cheap to be fabricated. The writer has been experiencing that by applying the cooling container and the cooling method as hereinafter specified according to the invention, with the appropriate volume of both basket 12 and cooling chamber 16 and by using simple ice cubes 20 therein, it is successful to keep the content temperature of a certain bottle B having a determined shape, specifically a typical wine bottle, substantially constant in a starting temperature range of 6-18°C and for a duration till to three hours, with outer temperatures of the service hall variable from 21 to 28°C, by only varying the amount of ice being present in the cooling chamber; as, for example, going through a replenishment from ¼ to Vi to full, further on adding determined amount of typical table salt. Experimental studies on this point from the writer are described as follows with reference to graphics of figuresl6 and 17. With reference to figure 16, it is explained at the start point how to fill the cooling chamber with ice cubes, being identified by a set of indentations on the cooling chamber indicating a volumetric filling value from 0 (empty) to 20 (full) in green characters, at different temperature range of the serving hall, on the y-axis with blue characters under the wording "T range", depending on bottle different temperature values to be kept constant over the time, with values in red characters under the wording "temperatura iniziale bottiglia". For the strongest thermal exchange values, wording in green about filling provides also an eventual adding of the wording "pieno" followed by a table salt amount in spoon under the wording "cucchiai sale" and the related amount to be used, as in the example.

Graphic of figure 17 illustrates instead a set of curves concerning temperature, on y-axis, of a wine bottle that at the beginning is at an established temperature, in the example 18°C, depending on time going through inside a hall at a fixed temperature of 21 °C (time on x-axis) at different levels of volumetric filling of the cooling chamber, being written at the right side of the related curves under the wording "LIV valore riempimento", the wording "Fresh Pieno" indicating when the cooling chamber is full of ice. To be underlined is that a cooling container according to the invention is able to take in an established and experimented way the temperature value of a wine bottle, at the beginning at 18°C, to an established lower temperature during a certain time, as well as to substantially keep that value constant for at least a couple of hours wherein the wine content is going to be tasted.

The presence of a certain quantity of experimental studies carried out by the writer depending on the bottle typology to be cooled, of which the two illustrated graphs are only an example, manifests the total cooling reliability of the solution herein illustrated, which is a simple and cheap solution to the need of keeping a bottle liquid content at a constant temperature, as well as to take temperature of a specific bottle at a certain and willed temperature, in a determined time period and for a determined time period, typically the time period along which a wine tasting is performed.

It is apparent that bottle B can be extracted from and inserted into the container 10 with great easiness because of the open on the upper part of the basket 12 through which is operated, as well as it is possible to provide the cooling chamber 16 with the willed amount of cooling means, for example ice 20, through respective open on the upper part, in order to add or distance possibly cooling means if needed during operation, in a practical, simple and intuitive way.

A cooling method for beverages, in particular in bottle, according to the invention and being able to be carried out through cooling container 10 as above described, is detailed as follows and comprises the following steps:

a) selecting the bottle B to be cooled, as well as to be preserved at a substantially constant temperature in determined conditions of environment temperature;

b) referring to the graphic, provided with the cooling container as the ones of figures 16 and 17, about the thermal exchange to be carried out through cooling means, that is the filling value of ice 20 of the container 10 cooling chamber 16 depending on the selected bottle B and the operative destination of the container 10, for example if keeping the bottle temperature at a certain value in a given environment as well as taking in a certain period of time to a fixed value and stabilizing it, as above described;

c) adjusting the cooling means to a needed exchange thermal value obtained by viewing the graphic as in the previous step, that is filling the cooling chamber 16 with ice 20 at a volumetric filling value as in the graphic;

d) inserting the selected bottle B in the basket 12, which is going to be in touch with the thermal surface 14 by means of the shifting means 30. Container 10 is now ready to be used according to steps a) and b) as above. It results advantageously simple and fast to be carried out and therefore related container is of a practical and immediate use for an operator who wants to serve a beverage, in particular wine, at a given temperature by keeping the bottle content substantially at a fixed and willed temperature.

With reference to figures 5 and 6, a variant to the container of figures 1-4 in two different operative conditions is illustrated, the first one with bottle B just being inserted inside the basket 12 and the second one after the same comes in touch with the thermal wall 14 through the above said longitudinal crosswalk constituting the touching surface S due to the shifting action of the shifting means 30, in the same way as in the above described embodiment. Such variant differs in the shifting means 30, which are constituted of a bearing plane 22 hinged to the main body 11 on the basket 12 wall opposed to the thermal wall 14, at a certain height away from the bottom by means of a elastic hinge 23, which keeps the bearing plane 22 in a substantially horizontal plane when there is no weight of a bottle B; otherwise it softly collapses as well as a bottle B is rested on, with the related free end going to rest on the basket 12 bottom. Such variant advantageously allows a soft cooling container 10 operation when the bottle B is continuously extracted and inserted in the related basket 12.

With reference to figures 7 and 8, a second embodiment of the cooling container 10 according to the invention in two different operative conditions is illustrated, the first one with the bottle B just inserted into the basket 12 and the second after that the same is in touch with the thermal wall 14 through the related touching surface S, a narrow longitudinal crosswalk, by the action of the shifting means 30. Such shifting means consist in a elastic buffer device 30 associated to the basket 12 wall opposed to the thermal wall 14, for example being constituted of a shaped plaque 24 leaning inside the basket 12 and fixed thereto, with a flexible end 25 the movement thereof toward the basket 12 wall being held up from e resilient element, in particular a spring 26. It is apparent that the bottle B to be cooled, once being inserted into the basket 12 as figure 7, comes to be in touch with its lateral surface to the end 25 of the shaped plaque 24 which pushes, through the spring 26, the bottle B toward the thermal wall 14 until making it be in touch through the related and calculable touching surface S, as illustrated in figure 8. Advantageously, such solution allows an insertion and extraction of the bottle B from the basket 12 soft and smooth, especially if the shaped plaque 24 is carried out with a material and machined in such a manner it would have a very low grip with the bottle during operation thereof.

With reference to figures 9 and 10, a third embodiment of the cooling container 10 according to the invention is illustrated in two different operative conditions, the first one with the bottle B just inserted inside the basket 12, in touch with the bottom and the second one after that the same is in touch with the thermal wall 14 through the related touching surface S, a narrow longitudinal crosswalk, by the action of shifting means 30. Herein shifting means consist in an tilted plane arrangement 30 apt to form the bottom of the basket 12, in particular forming the bottom of the cooling chamber 16 too; that is the whole main body 11 of the container 10 is inclined of a certain angle, so determining such a slope that bottle B shifts for gravity on the bottom of the basket 12 toward the thermal wall 14 to carry out the contact through the touching surface S. Such solution is extremely practical and simple to be carried out, the main body 11 and the tilted plane arrangement 30 being able to be advantageously carried out all in a piece.

A variant to such solution may advantageously provide for the thermal wall 14 being of a type extractable from the main body 11, which is formed according to slides adapted to the aim through interposing gaskets apt to seal the cooling chamber 16, the thermal wall 14 being therefore a thermal bulkhead. Thermal walls could be shaped according to various and studied geometries to grant a multiplicity of determined shape for the touching surface S, possibly of increased dimensions to implement a greater thermal exchange in accordance to bottles B shape operating inside the basket 12. An embodiment of such variant is illustrated in figures 11-14, where particularly in figure 13 is illustrated a cross sectional view of a cooling container 10 in operation with the bottle B inserted into and in touch with the thermal wall 14 after being shifted along the tilted plane arrangement 30. Herein in particular a "corrugated" configuration of the sectional cross thermal wall 14 development, as illustrated together with its variants of shape in figure 15, which grants to form a well determined and calculable touching surface S between bottle B and thermal wall 14 is illustrated; for a bottle B with a circular cylindrical shaped wall, this is formed of a couple of longitudinal crosswalks S' and S" developing substantially along the whole lateral surface with rectilinear directrixes of the same bottle B. Hence illustrated and described thermal walls are of a type adapted to define a touching surface between bottle B and thermal wall 14, for a bottle B with a circular cylindrically shaped wall being formed of a couple of longitudinal crosswalks S' and S".

Writer is going to continuously commit to experimentally implement charts and graphics, for example as in figures 16 and 17, depending on type of used shape concerning thermal wall and bottles shapes resting on it, through which it is possible to actually carry out the cooling method according to the invention and as for above description.

In addition to a removable and interchangeable thermal wall 14 inside the main body 11, the concerned variant is further and advantageously featured to provide slope adjustment of the thermal wall 14, so being able to house a wider typology of bottles B once experimentation of cooling performance thereof is implemented, for example bottles providing a lateral surface of a determined conicity as well as of other shape such in a way that a slope variation would take to provide touching surfaces S' and S" configuration such as to assure a determined and improved thermal exchange. Hence tilting means of the thermal wall 14 are associated on the main body 11 of container 10, for example and with particular reference to figure 14 where container 10 is illustrated without thermal wall 14, a plurality of splined guides 28 at different slopes, in particular being carried out all in a piece to the main body 11, adapted to house the thermal wall 14 with interposition of a gasket 29 in order to advantageously make a bulkhead for the cooling chamber 16. Splined guides 28 are carried out such in a way that an operator is able to grab the thermal wall 14 from upper side, pull out and point it along an adjacent or other guide 28, as well as to push it and make it clicking while occupying a next adjacent guide.

It is apparent that, for a technician skilled in the art, there are numerous other possible variants to the cooling container and method according to the invention; as well as it is apparent that, in their practical implementation, materials, forms of details, means and arrangements as described may be different and replaced by the means of technically equivalent elements.

For example, basket base may be variously shaped, as well as related walls may slightly diverge or converge. At the same way, shape and volume of a cooling chamber may be whichever, by assuming the most various and stilish geometries such as ones illustrated in the embodiment of figures 11-14, in accordance to the practical need of housing in an efficiently way, that is in touch with the thermal wall, cooling means as simple crushed ice or ice cubes.