Heat Transfer Apparatus

A self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus and method of use is disclosed that includes a substantially sealed reservoir, an insulated handle that is adjacent to the reservoir, and a thermal fluid disposed within a portion of the reservoir. Wherein the heat transfer apparatus is operational to absorb or lose heat in a resource environment and then be manually transferred via the handle to be adjacent to a selected mass for the purpose of heat transfer to or from the mass.

Skip to: Description  ·  Claims  · Patent History  ·  Patent History
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/698,716 filed on Jul. 13, 2005 by Jonathan A. Lusk.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention generally relates to an apparatus for accomplishing heat transfer by either removing or adding heat to adjacent mass. More particularly the present invention is a manually hand held self contained apparatus that contains a thermal fluid within a sealed enclosure, wherein the apparatus has heat added or removed via a remote source with the apparatus then manually placed adjacent to a selected mass, such as the liquid in a beverage, for cooling or heating the beverage or the apparatus can be placed adjacent a portion of human anatomy for therapeutic purposes, or any other selected mass that can benefit from the removal or adding of heat.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Hot and cold drinks or beverages are consumed daily in mass quantities by individuals with a variety of preferences for the temperature at which they consume their beverage. As beverages are typically served in non insulated open containers they either quickly gain or lose heat from their ambient surroundings and tend toward approaching the ambient room temperature in a short amount of time. Especially troublesome is in the cooling of beverages wherein ice is used, which of necessity causes an undesirable water dilution of the beverage and considerably lessens the volume available in the beverage container for the selected beverage. Another problem with ice is that it can add undesirable taste to the beverage by way of high water mineral, chlorine, or other undesirable trace elements that are present in the water that the ice is made from. Of course one way around this issue of ice either diluting or adding undesirable taste to a beverage is to immerse the beverage container into a container of ice, wherein the ice does not come into contact with the beverage liquid itself, such as a picnic cooler. However, this is inefficient heat transfer as only one side out of six sided of a cube of ice is in contact with the beverage container, wherein the other five sides of the ice cube are just cooling the surrounding ambient air, being wasted cooling energy, this is in addition to cooling the beverage from the outside of the container only, wherein the cooling has to go through the beverage container and migrate through the beverage liquid to cool the liquid, meaning that there is a thermal diffusivity issue in the time its takes to cool the mass of beverage liquid. Thus, the one advantage of cooling with ice on the outside of the beverage container is to preclude dilution or contamination of the beverage liquid. Contrary to this if ice is not used, i.e. a beverage is just cooled in a refrigerator, that when the beverage is removed from the refrigerator to be consumed on a hot day, the beverage will warm up to room temperature fairly quickly, not even accounting for the heat added by the user's hand holding for instance the beverage can, wherein the can is unfortunately very efficient at transferring heat from the user's hand to the beverage further shortening the time at which the beverage will warm up. Thus, there has developed a need for portable heating and cooling devices for beverages, however, portable heating and cooling devices all suffer from some of the same problems related to the amount of energy required to effectuate all forms of heating of cooling, wherein the amount of energy required severely restricts portability i.e. an electrical power source is needed, or some other form of energy such as a pressurized reservoir of gas that would not be very portable and would eventually need a compressor to sustain the pressurized gas source. Another approach for portable heating or cooling is to use chemical reactions or the rapid movement of a fluid through a pressure change to cause heating or cooling to occur, wherein the problem is with these approaches is that they are one-shot deals, i.e. once the chemical reaction occurs or the pressure difference is exhausted the device no longer has any heating or cooling capabilities until it is recharged, either with gas pressure or new chemicals, which acts to severely reduce portability.

This issue is well-recognized to the prior art wherein there are a number of portable self contained beverage cooling/heating devices. One prior example is in U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,063 to Brown, which discloses a self contained cooling device for cooling the contents of an open beverage container which upon activation of the device is cooled below the ambient room temperature wherein the device is configured somewhat like a stir stick. Brown uses a pressurized fluid within a reservoir having an insulated handle that is secured to the reservoir, with the cooling accomplished by manually opening a means to allow the escape and expansion of pressurized fluid within the reservoir to a cooling chamber, simulating a single cycle refrigeration system, there is also a protective guard to keep the user form coming into contact with the cooling portion of the device, however, the guard is perforated to allow the beverage liquid to circulate through the guard coming into contact with the cooling chamber. A major drawback to Brown is that it is a disposable device only being good for a single use when the user manually releases the high pressure fluid contained portion into the expansion cooling portion and once the fluid expands the device must be either disposed of or refilled requiring special equipment with a pressurized fluid and resealing the barrier between the pressurized portion and the cooling portion. Another prior art example is in U.S. Pat. No. 6,338,570 to Santacruz-Olivares that discloses a thermoelectric cooling stirrer that is formed of an enclosure that uses ambient air with a forced circulation system through which the air is circulated within the enclosure that is submerged in the hot beverage, wherein the stirrer is operational to remove heat from the beverage to the ambient air, however, not having the capability to cool the beverage to below ambient air temperature, having only the capacity to more quickly facilitate bringing the hot beverage down to the ambient air temperature.

Further, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,817 to Anthony disclosed is a portable heating and cooling device for food and beverage containers that utilizes a vortex tube that utilizes high pressure air to be tangentially injected into a cylinder that creates a hot gas stream adjacent to the outer diameter of the vortex and a cold gas stream adjacent to the central rotational axis of the vortex due to differences in gas speed and pressure. Thus, Anthony uses these hot and cold gas streams for the purpose of heating and cooling beverages for instance, this system is simple and safe, however, a major drawback is the requirement for a pressurized gas source, i.e. a tank or a compressor being required, which lessens the self contained portability significantly. A further example is in U.S. Pat. No. 3,881,321 to Riley that discloses a self cooling disposable liquid container that utilizes a pressurized refrigerant fluid that is stored in a pressurized refrigerant chamber, the fluid is manually selectively released from the chamber and passes directly through the beverage liquid cooling the beverage liquid by virtue of the refrigerant fluid expanding to a low-pressure area, i.e. into the beverage liquid from the pressurized refrigerant chamber. Riley falls in the category of having a single use pressured source for cooling an once this pressurized source of refrigerant is exhausted being released to the beverage liquid, in essence the Riley device is disposed of.

Further, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,193 to Sundhar et al., disclosed is a cooling device for beverages that is similar in concept to Riley, by having a beverage cooling device immersed into the beverage liquid, this beverage cooling device contains a pressurized liquefied gas that is sealed in a capsule wherein a pierce pin manually selectively ruptures the capsule to quickly release the liquefied gas that is under pressure in the capsule, wherein the liquefied gas will have the cooling effect directly into the beverage liquid. As in Riley, once the capsule is pierced and the pressurized liquefied gas is released for cooling Sundhar's et al., device is spent and used, wherein the high-pressure liquefied gas capsule must be replaced for reuse of the Sundhar et al., device. Looking at another concept in the prior art, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,836 to Childers, disclosed is a metallic cylinder that is immersed in the liquid within a beverage container, wherein the metallic cylinder is smaller then the beverage container such that the metallic cylinder is filled with ice for the purpose of cooling the beverage. Thus, Childers's overcomes the ice dilution issue of the beverage and also the problem of the ice adding an undesirable taste to the beverage issue. However, in Childers there remains the poor heat transfer efficiency problem as previously described for the picnic cooler case, in that any given ice cube only has one out of its six sides exposed to the inner wall of the metallic cylinder which is transferring heat out the beverage liquid, thus a majority of the ice cooling is going towards cooling the ambient air that exists within the metallic cylinder that is open to the atmosphere. Continuing, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,019 to Gorochow, disclosed is a beverage cooling sipper that is constructed of a straw that is encased with a thermal mass that is cooled below the temperature of the beverage liquid such that when a user sucks the hot liquid up though the straw the cooled thermal mass that is encased around the straw brings the temperature down of the hot beverage liquid. In Gorochow the thermal mass is cooled by refrigerating the thermal mass and straw combination prior to use. However, a problem with Gorochow is that because the device used as straw for sanitary reasons it must of necessity be disposable, therefore not being reusable.

There remains a need for a portable self contained manually operated heating/cooling apparatus that is easy to use and not requiring any special equipment to operate and that most importantly is re-usable to reduce the cost to the user and to be more environmentally friendly. Another important aspect of the portable self contained manually operated heating/cooling apparatus is that is has a high surface area to volume ratio, specifically meaning that the surface area is the surface area of the reservoir, wherein the volume is the volume of the thermal fluid. What this results in is that the heat transferred is maximized when the surface area is high in relation to the volume, thus the heat transfer apparatus is desirably in the shape of a long thin cylinder, wherein the apparatus will absorb or lose heat quickly meaning it will transfer heat efficiently from a resource environment (where the apparatus is either heated or cooled) and subsequently transfer heat quickly to a selected mass, that could be a beverage liquid, or a portion of human anatomy, or any other beneficial use. The benefit to this type of heat transfer apparatus is that the heating or cooling is in contact directly with what is desirably cooled or heated, or in the case of a beverage the heat transfer apparatus is directly immersed into the liquid, as opposed to cooling from the outside of the container with either ice or in a refrigerator to preclude dilution or contamination of the beverage liquid. Another desirable issue related to the heat transfer apparatus will include the ease of cleaning for re-use and protection against toxic contamination of the beverage liquid or when the heat transfer apparatus comes into contact with a portion of human anatomy that there is no risk of harm to a human.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Broadly, the present invention of a self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus includes a substantially sealed reservoir, an insulated handle that is adjacent to the reservoir, and a thermal fluid disposed within a portion of the reservoir. Wherein the heat transfer apparatus is operational to absorb or lose heat in a resource environment and then be manually transferred via the handle to be adjacent to a selected mass for the purpose of transferring heat to or from the mass.

These and other objects of the present invention will become more readily appreciated and understood from a consideration of the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention when taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which;

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a self contained heat transfer apparatus;

FIG. 2 shows cross sectional view 2-2 from FIG. 1 showing a reservoir partially filled with a void, a finger, and a handle;

FIG. 3 shows an expanded cross sectional view 3 from FIG. 2 showing the reservoir and finger;

FIG. 4 shows a cross sectional view 4-4 from FIG. 3 showing the staggering of two finger in relation to the reservoir;

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the self contained heat transfer apparatus placed within a resource environment;

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of the use of the self contained heat transfer apparatus reservoir placed into a beverage liquid with rapid stirring for agitating the liquid and agitating a thermal fluid;

FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of the use of the self contained heat transfer apparatus reservoir placed into a beverage liquid utilizing an attachment element to removably engage the reservoir to an interior of the beverage container; and

FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of the use of the self contained heat transfer apparatus being adjacent to a portion of human anatomy.

REFERENCE NUMBERS IN DRAWINGS

  • 30 Self contained heat transfer apparatus
  • 32 Reservoir
  • 34 Insulated handle
  • 36 Thermal fluid
  • 37 Reservoir void
  • 38 Resource environment
  • 40 Selected mass
  • 41 Human anatomy portion
  • 42 Cylinder
  • 43 Radius for cylinder
  • 44 Attachment element
  • 45 Length for cylinder 42
  • 46 Beverage container
  • 47 Removable engagement of the attachment element 44
  • 48 Interior of beverage container 46
  • 50 Liquid of beverage
  • 52 Finger
  • 54 Rapid stirring movement
  • 56 Agitating beverage liquid 50
  • 58 Agitating thermal fluid 36
  • 60 User
  • 62 Oscillating motion to create stirring movement 54

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Broadly, with initial reference to FIG. 1 shown is a perspective view of the self contained heat transfer apparatus 30, FIG. 2 shows cross sectional view 2-2 from FIG. 1 showing a reservoir 32 partially filled with a thermal fluid 36 with a reservoir void 37, also shown is a heat transfer finger 52, and an insulating handle 34, and FIG. 3 shows an expanded cross sectional view 3 from FIG. 2 showing the reservoir 32 and heat transfer finger 52. Further, FIG. 4 shows the cross sectional view 4-4 from FIG. Showing the staggering of two heat transfer fingers 52 in relation to the reservoir 32, FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the self contained heat transfer apparatus 30 placed within a resource environment 38 for the purpose of the self contained heat transfer apparatus 30 to absorb or lose heat and FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of the use of the self contained heat transfer apparatus 30 reservoir 32 placed into a beverage liquid 50 with rapid stirring 54 for agitating the beverage liquid 56 and agitating the thermal fluid 58. Continuing, FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of the use of the self contained heat transfer apparatus 30 reservoir 32 placed into a beverage liquid 50 utilizing an attachment element 44 to removably engage the reservoir 32 to an interior 84 of the beverage container 46, and FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of the use of the self contained heat transfer apparatus 30 being adjacent to a portion of human anatomy 41 for therapeutic purposes.

In referring to FIGS. 1-4, broadly the present invention of a self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus 30 includes a substantially sealed reservoir 32, an insulated handle 34 that is adjacent to the reservoir 32, and a thermal fluid 36 disposed within a portion of the reservoir 32. Wherein the heat transfer apparatus 30 is operational to absorb or lose heat in a resource environment 38 and then be manually transferred by a user 60 via the handle 34 to be adjacent to a selected mass 40 for the purpose of transferring heat to or from the mass 40. Optionally the reservoir can in the form of a cylinder 42 as best shown in FIG. 2. As it is desired to maximize the heat transfer rates with heat being absorbed and released by the heat transfer apparatus 30 the surface area to volume ratio is desirably high, such that as the heat transfers, a large surface area for heat transfer is desirable thus allowing heat to be absorbed and released quickly this being in conjunction with keeping the volume low, which in this case is the volume of thermal fluid to minimize the thermal diffusivity effects, being the time it takes for a thermal mass to absorb or dissipate heat. Thus a ratio can be developed mathematically for any number of geometric shapes of the surface area to volume, which for the present invention is desired to be high as previously discussed. Typical geometric shapes where this ratio is calculated are spheres, cubes, and the like. No matter what the geometric shape is, a few constants emerge in that volume always grows as a cubic function and surface area always grows as a square function, thus at first glance, the larger a geometric shape is the lower its surface area to volume ratio is which is undesirable for the present invention, plus a large volume has a higher thermal diffusivity which further reduces the heat transfer.

Thus in conclusion, smaller volumes equate to higher surface area to volume ratios and reduced thermal diffusivity which lead to desirable higher heat transfer rates for the present invention. Accordingly, small volumes lead to small radiuses, i.e. small spheres or cubes, however, to be practical a small radius cylinder has a good surface area to volume ratio, low thermal diffusivity and can be practically applied to beverage cooling or heating, along with other uses by bringing the heat transfer apparatus 30 adjacent to the selected mass 40 which can basically be anything that can benefit from heat being added or removed be virtue of the heat transfer apparatus 30 being either preheated or pre cooled in the resource environment 38, which can be any source of heating or cooling such as a oven or freezer and the like, see FIG. 5. Thus, it is preferable that the reservoir 32 is in the form of a long thin cylinder 42, having a relatively small radius 43 related to the cylinder's length 45 as is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, wherein the cylinder 42 length 45 in the reservoir 32 portion is about twenty times the cylinder radius 43, however higher or lower values of the cylinder 42 length 45 to radius 43 ratio would be acceptable.

The insulated handle 34 gives the user 60 a grasping point, as best shown in FIG. 8, wherein higher and lower temperatures in the previously described resource environment 38 can be utilized for the heat transfer apparatus 30 to be heated or cooled to, thus facilitating more heat transfer to or from the selected mass 40. As a user's 60 bare hand can only touch a surface of up to about one hundred and thirty degrees Fahrenheit, the insulated handle allows for the reservoir to be heated to more than this temperature in the resource environment 38, conversely a user 60 would not want to touch a surface colder than freezing, i.e., thirty two degrees Fahrenheit, especially a surface with a high degree of heat transfer, such as a metal, thus the insulated handle 34 adds utility to the heat transfer apparatus 30 for higher levels of heat transfer for both removing and adding heat. The insulated handle 34 can be constructed of any poor heat transferring material that can withstand high and low temperatures, being at least to the degree that the reservoir material, thermal fluid, and optional fingers 52 can withstand. As shown in FIG. 2, the attachment of the insulated handle 34 to the reservoir 32 can be by any method that can withstand the temperature differences from the heating or cooling of the heat transfer apparatus 30 in the resource environment 38 and have sufficient physical strength for the user 60 to grasp the insulated handle 34 from inside the resource environment 38 to move the reservoir 32 to the selected mass 40, i.e. for the purpose of rapid stirring movement 54 or for contact with a portion of the human anatomy 41, or for placing the heat transfer apparatus 30 adjacent to any other selected mass 40.

The thermal fluid 36 is preferably a fluid that has a higher boiling point than water and a freezing point lower than water, like automotive antifreeze, also the thermal fluid 36 needs to be compatible with the reservoir 32 material and even though the reservoir 32 is substantially sealed, preferably the thermal fluid 36 is non toxic to add a degree of safety to the beverage 50 and human anatomy 41 uses. Referring to FIG. 2, avoid 37 is shown in the reservoir 32, wherein the thermal fluid 36 is disposed within a portion of the reservoir 32 as shown, thus the void 37 represents the non thermal fluid 36 portion of the reservoir 32. The benefit of the void 37 is that it allows for agitating 58 the thermal fluid 36, i.e. the thermal fluid 36 has the void 37 to move within the reservoir 32, thus increasing the film coefficients of heat transfer between the thermal fluid 36 and the reservoir 32, and also the fingers 52 if used, resulting in increased heat transfer. The void 37 also has the purpose of lessening the stress on the reservoir 32 if the thermal fluid 36 should happen to freeze solid, giving the thermal fluid 36 room to expand into the void 37.

The reservoir 32 is preferably constructed of a high heat transfer material that is also corrosion resistant, thus a material from a group of stainless steels would be preferred, although copper or brass could be acceptable also, or other steels as well. Further alternative materials while less preferable could be used, while corrosion resistance would be desired, plastics and composites such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyurethane or other similar materials could be used with reduced heat transfer performance, due to their thermal conductivities being less than steels and their reduced ability to withstand high and low temperature extremes from the resource environment 38. As a further enhancement, optionally fingers 52, as best shown in FIGS. 2-4, can be used in a plurality, with each of the fingers 52 being in communication therethrough the reservoir 32 such that the fingers 52 are in contact with the thermal fluid 36 and the selected mass 40 for the purpose of increasing heat transfer. The fingers 52 act to increase the surface area as previously described, both on the reservoir's 32 thermal fluid 36 side and on the selected mass 40 side or beverage liquid 50 side as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, thus helping to increase heat transfer. Also, the fingers 52 increase the turbulence of the thermal fluid 36 as previously described and can increase the turbulence of for instance the beverage liquid 50, thus also increasing the surface heat transfer coefficients, even further increasing the heat transfer. The materials of construction for the fingers 52 can be the same as for the reservoir 32 as previously described, or could be a material different than the reservoir 32, such that the fingers 52 are constructed of a very high heat transfer material, say copper for instance, wherein the reservoir 32 could be constructed of stainless steel for strength. Note that the fingers 52 communicate directly through the reservoir 32, and are staggered for maximum turbulence inducing effect as best shown in FIG. 4.

A further option is an attachment element 44 adjacent to the heat transfer apparatus 30, as shown in FIG. 7, the attachment element 44 is operational to substantially removably engage the reservoir 32 to an interior 44 of a beverage container 46 thus suspending the reservoir 32 in the beverage liquid 50, wherein the rapid stirring movement 54 could be accomplished by the user 60 grasping the outside of the beverage container 54 and subsequently resulting in agitating by way of oscillating motion 62 both the beverage liquid 56 and the thermal liquid 58 for increased heat transfer, while the reservoir 32 of the heat transfer apparatus 30 is suspended in the beverage liquid 50 by way of the attachment element 44 and beverage container 46. The attachment element 44 is preferably constructed of a resilient material that can removably engage the beverage container 46 and the reservoir 32 through the use of a flexible access slot 47 disposed in the attachment element 44. Note that the resilient material of the attachment element 44 should have the same high and low temperature capability as the remainder of the heat transfer apparatus, i.e. specifically the reservoir 32, insulated handle 34, thermal fluid 36, and optional fingers 52.

Method of Use

A method is disclosed for the multitude of uses for the self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus 30, in referring particularly to FIGS. 5-8, that includes the steps of firstly providing a self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus 30 having a substantially sealed reservoir 32, an insulated handle 34 that is adjacent to the reservoir 32, and a thermal fluid 36 disposed within a portion of reservoir 32. Next, a step of placing the heat transfer apparatus 30 in a resource environment 38, referring to FIG. 5, for the purpose of heating the apparatus 30, followed by a step of heating the apparatus 30 for a selected time at a selected temperature that is determined by the materials limits for a high temperature in the reservoir 32, insulated handle 34, thermal fluid 36, and fingers 52 or attachment element 44 if included, in addition to the amount of time for heat absorption based upon the thermal diffusivity of the assembly of the apparatus 30. Also, the time and temperature would depend upon the selected mass 40 and the amount of heat to be transferred. Once the apparatus 30 has been heated, a user 60 then engages in grasping the apparatus 30 manually by the handle 34, so as not to touch the high temperature reservoir 32, and with a further step of placing the apparatus 30 reservoir 32 adjacent to a selected mass 40 for the purpose of heat transfer to the mass 40. As is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 the selected mass 40 can be a beverage liquid 50 that can be warmed up or as shown in FIG. 8, the selected mass 40 can be a portion of the human anatomy 41 for therapeutic purposes. However, may other uses could be utilized for the heat transfer apparatus 30 wherein the selected mass 40 could be anything that can benefit from absorbing heat.

Optionally, in referring in particular to FIG. 6, the self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus 30 can add to the step of placing the apparatus reservoir 32 adjacent to the selected mass 40 by including placing the reservoir 32 into the liquid 50 of a beverage and manually rapidly stirring 54 the liquid 50 with the reservoir 32 by the user 60 to agitate both the beverage liquid 56 and the thermal fluid 58 to increase the heat transfer by increasing the heat transfer film coefficients on both the beverage liquid 50 side of the reservoir 32 and the thermal fluid 36 side of the reservoir 32. Another option in referring specifically to FIG. 7, is to add a step of attaching in a removably engagable manner the reservoir 32 to an interior 48 of a beverage container 46 with an attachment element 44 that is adjacent to the apparatus 30 or in particular the reservoir 32, in using the removable engagement 47 to slide the reservoir into the attachment element 44, which allows the previously described rapid stirring movement 54 to be accomplished by the rapid oscillating motion 62 by grasping the outside of the beverage container 46 and moving it in an oscillating motion 62 to help increase heat transfer as previously described.

Further uses for the self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus 30, in also referring particularly to FIGS. 5-8, include the steps of firstly providing a self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus 30 that includes a substantially sealed reservoir 32, an insulated handle 34 that is adjacent to the reservoir 32, and a thermal fluid 36 disposed within a portion of reservoir 32. Next a step of placing the heat transfer apparatus 30 in a resource environment 38, referring to FIG. 5, for the purpose of cooling the apparatus 30, followed by a step of cooling the apparatus 30 for selected time at a selected temperature that is determined by the materials limits for a low temperature in the reservoir 32, insulated handle 34, thermal fluid 36, and option fingers 52, or attachment element 44 if included, in addition to the amount of time for cooling based upon the thermal diffusivity of the assembly of the apparatus 30. Also, the time and temperature would depend upon the selected mass 40 and the amount of heat to be transferred. Once the apparatus 30 has been cooled, a user 60 then engages in grasping the apparatus 30 manually by the handle 34, so as not to touch the low temperature reservoir 32, and with a further step of placing the apparatus 30 reservoir 32 adjacent to a selected mass 40 for the purpose of heat transfer from the mass 40. As is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 the selected mass 40 can be a beverage liquid 50 that can be cooled down or as shown in FIG. 8, the selected mass 40 can be a portion of the human anatomy 41 for therapeutic purposes. However, may other uses could be utilized for the heat transfer apparatus 30 wherein the selected mass 40 could be anything that can benefit from removing heat.

Optionally, in referring in particular to FIG. 6, the self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus 30 can add to the step of placing the apparatus reservoir 32 adjacent to the selected mass 40 by including placing the reservoir 32 into the liquid 50 of a beverage and manually rapidly stirring 54 the liquid 50 with the reservoir 32 by the user 60 to agitate both the beverage liquid 56 and the thermal fluid 58 to increase the heat transfer by increasing the heat transfer film coefficients on both the beverage liquid 50 side of the reservoir 32 and the thermal fluid 36 side of the reservoir 32. Another option in referring specifically to FIG. 7, is to add a step of attaching in a removably engagable manner the reservoir 32 to an interior 48 of a beverage container 46 with an attachment element 44 that is adjacent to the apparatus 30 or in particular the reservoir 32, in using the removable engagement 47 to slide the reservoir into the attachment element 44, which allows the previously described rapid stirring movement 54 to be accomplished by the rapid oscillating motion 62 by grasping the outside of the beverage container 46 and moving it in an oscillating motion 62 to help increase heat transfer as previously described.

CONCLUSION

Accordingly, the present invention of a self contained heat transfer apparatus 30 has been described with some degree of particularity directed to the embodiments of the present invention. It should be appreciated, though, that the present invention is defined by the following claims construed in light of the prior art so modifications of the changes may be made to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention without departing from the inventive concepts contained therein.

Claims

1. A self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus, comprising:

(a) a substantially sealed reservoir;
(b) an insulated handle that is adjacent to said reservoir; and
(c) a thermal fluid disposed within a portion of said reservoir, wherein said apparatus is operational to absorb or lose heat in a resource environment and then be manually transferred via said handle to be adjacent to a selected mass for the purpose of heat transfer to or from the mass.

2. A self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said reservoir is in the form of a cylinder.

3. A self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising an attachment element adjacent to said apparatus, said attachment element is operational to substantially removably engage said reservoir to an interior of a beverage container.

4. A self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said thermal fluid is non toxic.

5. A self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said thermal fluid has a freezing point below that of water.

6. A self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said thermal fluid has a boiling point above that of water.

7. A self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said reservoir is constructed of materials selected from the group consisting essentially of stainless steel materials.

8. A self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said reservoir is constructed of materials selected from the group consisting essentially of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyurethane materials.

9. A self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising a plurality of fingers that are in communication therethrough said reservoir such that said fingers are in contact with said thermal fluid and the selected mass for the purpose of increasing said heat transfer.

10. A method of using a self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus, comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus that includes a substantially sealed reservoirs, an insulated handle that is adjacent to said reservoir, and a thermal fluid disposed within a portion of said reservoir;
(b) placing said heat transfer apparatus in a resource environment for the purpose of heating said apparatus;
(c) heating said apparatus for a selected time at a selected temperature;
(d) grasping said apparatus manually by said handle; and
(e) placing said apparatus reservoir adjacent to a selected mass for the purpose of heat transfer to the mass.

11. A method of using a self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus according to claim 10 wherein said step of placing said apparatus reservoir adjacent to a selected mass includes placing said reservoir into a liquid of a beverage and rapidly stirring the liquid with said reservoir to agitate both the beverage liquid and said thermal fluid to increase said heat transfer.

12. A method of using a self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus according to claim 10 further comprising a step of attaching in a removably engagable manner said reservoir to an interior of a beverage container containing a beverage liquid with an attachment element that is adjacent to said apparatus, and rapidly stirring the liquid by grasping the beverage container and moving it in an oscillating manner to agitate both the beverage liquid and said thermal fluid to increase said heat transfer.

13. A method of using a self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus, comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus that includes a substantially sealed reservoir, an insulated handle that is adjacent to said reservoir, and a thermal fluid disposed within a portion of said reservoir;
(b) placing said heat transfer apparatus in a resource environment for the purpose of cooling said apparatus;
(c) cooling said apparatus for a selected time at a selected temperature;
(d) grasping said apparatus manually by said handle; and
(e) placing said apparatus reservoir adjacent to a selected mass for the purpose of heat transfer from the mass.

14. A method of using a self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus according to claim 13 wherein said step of placing said apparatus reservoir adjacent to a selected mass includes placing said reservoir into a liquid of a beverage and rapidly stirring the liquid with said reservoir to agitate both the beverage liquid and said thermal fluid to increase said heat transfer.

15. A method of using a self contained manually operated heat transfer apparatus according to claim 13 further comprising a step of attaching in a removably engagable manner said reservoir to an interior of a beverage container containing a beverage liquid with an attachment element that is adjacent to said apparatus and rapidly stirring the liquid by grasping the beverage container and moving it in an oscillating manner to agitate both the beverage liquid and said thermal fluid to increase said heat transfer.

Patent History
Publication number: 20070181290
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 13, 2006
Publication Date: Aug 9, 2007
Inventor: Jonathan Lusk (Galion, OH)
Application Number: 11/457,399
Classifications
Current U.S. Class: 165/104.210
International Classification: F28D 15/00 (20060101);