"A thermally regulated vessel, particularly a bottle"

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Field of the invention

The subject of the present invention is a thermally regulated vessel, more particularly a bottle, designed to contain a beverage or a liquid or semidense substance of an alimentary nature, for example vegetables or dairy products, and provided with a device for cooling or heating in conditions of heat exchange with the internal volume of the vessel. - - —

State of the prior art A thermally regulated vessel of this sort is described and illustrated, for example, in the patent document No. US-2004/0123620, which describes a bottle in which the cooling or heating device consists of a tubular container projecting from the lid or else from the bottom of the bottle. In the first case, the tubular container is directly fixed to the lid, in a relatively complicated way from the constructional standpoint, whilst in the second case it consists of a tubular cartridge inserted within a receptacle projecting from the bottom of the container and withheld therein via a simple friction fit (Figure 17) or by means of a threaded coupling (Figure 18). In the first case, the coupling between the container with the cooling or heating substance is far from reliable, hence involving the risk of possible accidental separation, whilst in the second case it requires the use of complicated assembly equipment.

Summary of the invention

The object of the present invention is to overcome the aforesaid drawbacks, and said object is achieved thanks to the fact that the container of the cooling or heating substance is fixed to the bottom of the vessel, or of the bottle, via a forced pressure or restrained-joint coupling.

In a first embodiment of the invention, the container of the cooling or heating substance consists of a tubular cartridge inserted within a blind receptacle projecting from the bottom of the vessel within its internal volume, said cartridge having an enlarged end part that engages within the base of said receptacle.

In a second embodiment of the invention, the cartridge has side appendages for anchorage to the outer wall of the vessel, and in a third embodiment the container of the cooling or heating substance consists of a generally tray-shaped body within which the bottom part of the vessel is engaged. Brief description of the drawings

The invention will now be described in detail with reference to the annexed plates of drawings, which are provided purely by way of non-limiting example and in which:

- Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view that is a schematic illustration of a thermally regulated vessel according to a first embodiment of the invention;

- Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing the modalities of assembly of the vessel of Figure 1;

- Figure 3 is a view similar to that of Figures 1 and 2 which shows the vessel in the assembled condition; - Figure 4 is a view similar to that of Figure 3 but viewed from a different angle;

- Figure 5 is a perspective view of a first variant of the thermally regulated vessel according to the invention;

- Figure 6 is a perspective view of a second variant of the thermally regulated vessel according to the invention; and

- Figure 7 is an exploded view of Figure 6. Detailed description of the invention

With initial reference to Figures 1 to 4, in a first embodiment of the invention the thermally regulated vessel according to the invention consists of a bottle 1 made of plastic material suitable for use with foodstuffs, typically polyethylene, and designed to contain a fluid substance such as a beverage, or else a semi-dense liquid of an alimentary nature, for example, vegetables or dairy products.

The bottle 1 is provided, in a usual way, at its top end with a top or lid 2, and its bottom wall, designated by 3 has a central opening 4 from which there integrally extends a blind receptacle 5 projecting longitudinally within the internal volume of the bottle 1.

The receptacle 5 is prearranged for housing a tubular cartridge 6, which is also typically but not necessarily made of plastic material, which is sealed and contains within it a cooling or else heating substance. Said substance consists conveniently of a eutectic mass with high storage of calories or, respectively, with high storage of frigories. Alternatively, the cooling or heating substance can consist of a chemical product that can be activated for producing an endothermic or, respectively, exothermic reaction. In both cases, these are materials of a known type, the characteristics of which fall within the usual knowledge of a person

skilled in the branch.

The tubular cartridge 6 has a general elongated cylindrical shape, complementary to that of the receptacle 5, and is preferably sized so as to provide an interference fit with the wall of said receptacle 5 when it is introduced axially therein, in the way represented in Figures 1 and 2.

According to the invention, in addition to said possible interference fit, the tubular cartridge 6 is prearranged for providing also a forced pressure or restrained-joint coupling with the bottom wall 3 of the bottle 1. For this purpose, the tubular cartridge 6 has at its bottom end an annular enlargement 7, which, following upon insertion within the receptacle 5, couples by pressure or by slotting within the hole 4, in the way represented in Figure 3.

In the case of the variant illustrated in Figure 5, in which parts that are identical or similar to the ones already previously described are designated by the same reference numbers, the container of the cooling or heating substance, designated by 6a, has with respect to the preceding embodiment a widened and shortened conformation, like the receptacle 5 within which it engages by interference fit. The container 6a is moreover formed with a pair of opposed side appendages for anchorage 8, which engage by forced pressure or restrained-joint coupling the outer wall of the bottle 1, starting from its bottom wall 3. Of course the number and arrangement of the side appendages 8 could differ from what is illustrated in Figure 5.

In the case of the further variant represented in Figures 6 and 7, the container of the cooling or heating substance consists of a generally tray-shaped body 6b, within which the bottom part of the bottle 1, i.e., its bottom wall 3 and the contiguous area of its side wall, engages by forced pressure or restrained-joint coupling. In order to improve further the anchorage between the tray-shaped container 6b and the bottle 1, the bottom 3 of the latter can be conveniently formed integrally with an axial appendage 9 projecting outwards, which can be engaged within a central receptacle 10 of the tray- shaped body 6b. To replace the appendage 9 and the receptacle 10, there can be provided formations for mutual restrained-joint coupling between the side wall and/or the bottom wall of the tray-shaped body 6b and the area of the side wall of the bottle 1 adjacent to its bottom wall 3.

In all the embodiments described above, as well as in possible structurally and functionally equivalent variants, assembling between the bottle 1 and the

container 6, 6a, 6b of the cooling or heating substance can be performed without difficulty also using mechanized equipment that is not particularly complex, and said assembly has in any case the advantage of being extremely safe and reliable so as to prevent risks of mutual accidental or undesired separation. In use, the eutectic mass or other cooling or else heating substance housed within the container 6, 6a, 6b enables the contents of the bottle 1 to be kept at a temperature quite a bit lower or else quite a bit higher, respectively, than room temperature. Obviously, the amount and characteristics of the eutectic mass will be calibrated on the basis of the characteristics and the volume of the product to be cooled or else heated.

As already clarified previously, the fluid or semidense substances for which the thermally regulated vessel according to the invention finds advantageous application are multiple: in addition to beverages and to alimentary liquids or semidense fluids in general, it is possible to envisage also a convenient use in the sector of medical articles and pharmaceuticals, for example for proper conservation of medicaments, vaccines and organic and inorganic materials in general used in the medical field. Accordingly, the thermally regulated vessel may consist, rather than of a bottle, for example of a flask, canister, tin, jar, or the like.

Of course the details of construction and the embodiments may vary widely with respect to what is described and illustrated purely by way of example, without thereby departing from the scope of the present invention, as defined in the ensuing claims.

It is thus possible to envisage the characteristics listed below, individually or in combination with one another: - the conformation of the container of the cooling or heating substance could present any geometrical shape, and the corresponding forced coupling with the container may envisage systems of forced fit or coupling by pressure or restrained-joint fit different from the ones previously described and illustrated;

- the container of the cooling or heating substance could also be located in other areas of the vessel;

- the vessel could also consist of a simple glass;

- the container of the cooling or heating substance could also be englobed within the vessel.