Tabletop Quick Cooling Device

Abstract

A tabletop quick cooling device comprises a housing with at least one door allowing access to at least one quick cooling chamber. The tabletop quick cooling device provides for a control panel electrically connected to an appropriate control circuit and control cooling time for a food or beverage inserted therein. Air intake openings and exhaust ports are also provided. An optional rack may be inserted into the quick cooling chamber to conveniently cool cans or bottles. In one embodiment, the tabletop cooling device utilizes liquid nitrogen circulating around the heat conductive surface within the quick cooling chamber. Another embodiment uses a conventional micro compressor to effectuate cooling.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In early times, humans hunted and gathered the food they needed each day. Techniques to preserve food were developed that allowed humans to store food ahead of time. It was discovered that keeping food cool increased the usable time to safely consume the food. People started digging holes and constructing boxes within the Earth to cool the food. Later people used ice in insulated boxes to keep food fresh longer. The first practical demonstration of artificial refrigeration occurred in the late 1700's with the first practical refrigerator appearing in the 1830's.

Modern refrigerators may include frost free freezers, climate controlled drawers, touch screen interfaces, beverage and ice dispensing units and are just some of the features available. Although the modern refrigerator represents a tremendous advance in technology, there remains a need to quickly cool items for immediate consumption. Often people will place a beverage be cooled in the freezer only to have it explode making a mess when they forgot about it. There is a need for a portable, convenient chilling device that can rapidly lower the temperature of a food or beverage to be consumed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A tabletop quick cooling device comprises a housing with at least one door allowing access to at least one quick cooling chamber. The tabletop quick cooling device provides for a control panel electrically connected to an appropriate control circuit and control cooling time for a food or beverage inserted therein. Air intake openings and exhaust ports are also provided. An optional rack may be inserted into the quick cooling chamber to conveniently cool cans or bottles. In one embodiment, the tabletop cooling device utilizes liquid nitrogen circulating around the heat conductive surface within the quick cooling chamber. Another embodiment uses a conventional micro compressor to effectuate cooling.

Other features and advantages of the instant invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention which refers to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the top and front of an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the back and top of an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the open position of an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a bottle inserted according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a plurality of cans inserted according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the drawings in which reference numerals refer to like elements, and which are intended to show by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural changes may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a tabletop quick cooling device 100 is shown having a housing 102 with a control panel 108 easily accessible to a user. In the embodiment shown, tabletop quick cooling device 100 is shown having two insulated covers 104 and 106 respectively. Air intake is provided through grills 105 and exhaust port 110 is used to vent hot air to the environment. Tabletop quick cooling device 100 is relatively lightweight allowing the device to be easily transported. Of course other embodiments could include a single insulated cover or a plurality depending on the desired use.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 through 5, tabletop quick cooling device 100 is shown having an optional wire rack 114 and may be inserted within a cooling chamber 112 to facilitate cooling a bottle 118 such as wine or soda or cans of beer or soda 120. Wire rack 114 may be grasped with an insulated handle (not shown) and removed by hand all or may be electrically powered for automatic retrieval.

In one embodiment, a micro compressor is utilized to compress a gas and then allows the gas to expand within elements surrounding cooling chamber 112 and 116 as is known in the art to provide rapid cooling. Utilizing a micro compressor allows tabletop cooling device 100 remain portable and lightweight.

Another embodiment, utilizes a liquefied gas such as liquid nitrogen to quickly cool any object placed within cooling chambers 112 or 160. The liquid nitrogen circulates in a heat transfer unit that surrounds cooling chambers 112 and 116. No liquid nitrogen is exposed nor does any food or liquid product come in contact with the liquid nitrogen. In one embodiment, a filling opening is provided to recharge the unit with liquid nitrogen.

Control unit 108 may include a timer, clock and calendar function as is known in the art. A digital display may also be included to display the temperature within the chambers 112 and 116 respectively.

Although the instant invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A tabletop quick cooling device comprises:

a housing;

at least one insulated cover moveably disposed on said housing;

at least one cooling chamber disposed within said housing and moveably covered by said cover;

a cooling means substantially surrounding said cooling chamber wherein the temperature of the cooling chamber is rapidly reduced; and

a control panel in electrical contact with said cooling means to control the temperature of said cooling chamber.

2. The tabletop quick cooling device according to claim 1, further comprising a removable rack inserted within said at least one cooling chamber.

3. The tabletop quick cooling device according to claim 1 wherein said cooling means includes a micro compressor.

4. The tabletop quick cooling device according to claim 1 wherein said cooling means comprises a liquefied gas cooling system.

5. The tabletop quick cooling device according to claim 4 wherein said liquefied gas is nitrogen.

6. The tabletop quick cooling device according to claim 1 further comprising a display device disposed on said housing wherein data is displayed to a user.

7. The tabletop quick cooling device according to claim 6 wherein said data includes a temperature.

8. The tabletop quick cooling device according to claim 6 wherein said data includes a timing indication.