An Automatic Beverage Cooler and a Method for Cooling Beverages

Abstract

One describes an automatic beverage cooler and a method of cooling beverages, the cooler comprising: housing (1) with a peripheral wall forming a tank with a top access opening, the tank being at least partially filled with a cooling liquid; a support platform assembly for a plurality of beverage containers (100), the platform assembly being displaceable into and out of the tank; a displacement mechanism coupled to the platform assembly, capable of displacing it into and out of the tank; a cooling circuit for the cooling liquid; temperature detectors for detecting the temperature of beverage inside at least one container when the latter is immersed in the cooling liquid in the tank, and a control station that control the displacement mechanism and the cooling circuit, with a user's interface for input of a determined beverage-cooling temperature; wherein the control station receives information about the temperature of the beverage in the container, sent by the temperature detectors, and actuates the displacement mechanism to displace the platform assembly out of the housing (1) when the beverage temperature reaches the value of the determined cooling temperature.

Description

The present invention relates to an automatic beverage cooler with capacity for cooling a number of beverage containers in a reduced time interval and in an automatic manner, as well as to a method for cooling beverages by means of this cooler, dispensing with the use of a timer and delivering beverages precisely at the desired temperature.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

As it is generally known, the beverage consumption temperature and particularly that of beer interferes with the taste of the beverage and is a decisive factor for the sale thereof in establishments. There is on the market a demand for rapidly-cooling equipment capable of satisfying rapidly the orders of consumers, chiefly in hotter regions and/or where there is the habit of consuming beverages at lower temperatures.

On coolers usually employed in establishments, some beverages take a relatively longer time for reaching the ideal temperature for serving them. As a result, at time of greater activity and/or on hotter days, some establishments may serve beverages at inadequate temperatures, thus impairing the taste thereof and displease the consumer.

On the other hand, some coolers capable of cooling beverages in a shorter time period are already known in the prior art. For example, document MU7401191-0 shows a rapid cooler that has a cooled box with an aluminum-plate coating, inside which the bottles remain immersed in water with glycol, pure glycol or alcohol. This cooler further has a cover with holes where the bottle necks fit while cooling. The time during which the bottles remain immersed in the cooling liquid is controlled by hand. It is up to the user to check whether the beverage is at the desired temperature, lift the cooler cover and take out the bottle. There is no automatic control of bottle immersion time, beverage temperature, and of opening and closing the cooler.

Document PI 8504334 relates to a cooler that has a container with a pool of cooling liquid inside it, where the beverage bottles are put in contact with alcohol and water, liquid fluorocarbon or FREON 113. The bottles remain arranged on a grate over the cooled liquid and may be dipped into the liquid by means of pneumatic cylinders that lower this grate down to the height necessary for contact with the liquid. A temperature probe measures the temperature of the cooling liquid and guarantees the operation of the cooling system. The cooler has a tray provided with a lifting mechanism that does down dipping the bottles into the cooling liquid and rises finishing the contact of the bottles with the liquid. A timer is programmed and accounts for controlling the time during which the beverage remains immersed in the cooling liquid and turns on a lamp that remains on during the immersion period. In other words, the bottles remain immersed in the cooling liquid during a programmed time period, regardless of the temperature which the beverage effectively reaches after this time interval.

Another prior-art problem is due to the fact that the beverage expands when it freezes and solidifies. More particularly, the gasified beverage, upon freezing and increasing in volume, exerts pressure on the inner wall of the container, be it a can or a glass or plastic bottle. As a result, the bottle or can may explode or leak. For this reason, the cooling of the beverage needs to be carried out in a controlled manner, chiefly when it is a rapid cooling in environments having very low temperatures, for example, lower than −15° C., that is to say, much lower than the beverage freezing temperature.

Usually, coolers have timers with a time determined to stop the beverage cooling or to emit a warning that the cooling time has been reached. However, during the different stations of the year or at the different places where the cooler is installed, the ambient temperature of the beverage upon being placed into the cooler varies much. So, the programmed cooling time of the cooler may be insufficient to cool the beverage, or it may bee too much, leading to the explosion or leak of the package. Besides, the consumption of energy is greater than necessary when the beverage remains under cooling for a longer time period than necessary.

None of the prior-art coolers is capable of cooling beverage bottles or cans in a short space of time with automatic control as a function of the beverage temperature.

OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION

A first objective of the invention is to provide an automatic cooler that cools beverages with a short space of time, with automatic control as a function of the beverage temperature, and with a high capacity of holding cooled beverage containers, without the need to use a timer.

The invention also has the objective of providing an automatic cooler with a single cooling-control station and, at the same time, with technically simple actuation system, actuated by an operator solely by means of a button.

It is also an objective of the invention to provide an automatic and rapid method of cooling beverages, which can achieve the same technical effects mentioned above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The objectives of the invention are achieved by means of an automatic cooler for beverages, which comprises:

• • a housing with a peripheral wall forming a tank with top access opening, the tank being at least partially filled with a cooling liquid;
  • a support platform assembly for a plurality of beverage containers, the platform assembly being displaceable into or out of the tank;
  • a displacement mechanism coupled to the platform assembly, capable of moving into or out of the tank;
  • a cooling circuit for the cooling liquid;
  • a beverage-temperature detector inside at least one container, when immersed in the cooling liquid in the tank; and
  • a control station that controls the displacement mechanism and the cooling circuit, with a user's interface for inputting a determined temperature for cooling beverages;

wherein the control station receives early temperature information of the beverage in the container, sent by the temperature detectors, and actuates the displacement mechanism to displace the platform assembly out of the housing when the beverage temperature reaches the determined beverage-cooling temperature value.

The automatic cooler preferably comprises a cover coupled to the displacement mechanism, being displaceable together with the platform assembly up and down until it comes in contact with the top border opening of the housing in downward direction. Besides, contact sensors may be provided at the lower part of the cover and/or at the access-opening border of the housing, which generate a signal for interrupting the downward displacement of the displacement mechanism in the event of detection of contact of a body with the lower part of the cover and/or with the opening border of the housing.

The cooling liquid may be based on glycol, ethanol, water or a mixture of these elements and is kept at a temperature ranging from −10° C. to −33° C.

The cooling circuit preferably comprises an expansion valve with external equalization, a compressor, a plate heat exchanger, a microchannel, actuated by an axial motor, and R404 ecological gas as a cooling fluid. The cooling circuit is preferably arranged inside the housing, out of the tank with cooling liquid.

The cooler has means for circulating the cooling liquid within the tank, which comprise a pump driven by an electric motor, the pump remaining in fluid communication with the tank and with a heat exchanger of the cooling circuit, and pumps the cooling liquid out of the tank through the heat exchanger and back into the tank.

The beverage-temperature detector preferably comprise at least two transducers that emit signals that cross each other within the beverage inside the container immersed in the cooling liquid at the point where the measurement of temperature is carried out.

The platform assembly may have a platform base for placing the beverage on, this platform base being submersible into the cooling liquid inside the tank, a guide tube to which the platform base is fixed, and a guide plate for the beverage containers fixed to the guide tube above the platform base and provided with orifices for fitting the beverage containers, the platform base, the guide tube and the guide plate being displaceable jointly by the displacement mechanism.

The displacement mechanism preferably comprises an electric motor and a bar provided with a helical screw, wherein the guide tube of the platform assembly is coupled to the helical screw of the bar and offset upward and downward with respect to the motor bar. The control station is capable of controlling the operation of the displacement mechanism and of the cooling circuit.

Alternatively, a smoking machine is arranged inside the housing, which is actuatable by the control station to emit smoke when the displacement mechanism is actuated to displace the platform assembly out of the tank. Besides, a display screen may be arranged on the outer face of the housing and displays the beverage temperature and/or the remaining time until the beverage cools to the predetermined temperature.

The objectives of the invention are also achieved by means of a method of cooling beverages by means of an automatic cooler of the type described herein, the method comprising the steps of: inputting a determined beverage-cooling temperature into the control station; positioning the beverage containers on the platform assembly; displacing the platform assembly into the tank of the housing until the beverage containers become immersed in the cooling liquid; measuring the beverage temperature inside a container immersed in the cooling liquid by means of temperature detectors; monitoring, by means of the control station, the beverage temperature in the container measured by the temperature detectors; actuating the displacement of the platform assembly out of the tank when the measured temperature of the beverage reaches the value of the determined cooling temperature.

While carrying out the method, the cooling liquid is preferably kept continually cooled at a temperature ranging from −10° C. to −33° C., circulates continuously inside the tank, and contacts a heat exchanger of the cooling circuit arranged out of the tank during the circulation. Besides, the beverage-temperature detectors send the measured beverage-temperature information to the control station and, when the beverage temperature reaches the determined cooling temperature, the control station sends an actuation signal to the displacement mechanism to displace the platform assembly out of the tank. The displacement of the platform assembly in downward direction of the may be interrupted in the event of detection of contact of a body with the lower part of the cover and/or with the border of the housing opening. The method may carry out a step of emitting smoke upon displacement of the platform out of the housing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to an example of embodiment represented in the drawings. The figures show:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the automatic cooler of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the automatic cooler shown in FIG. 1 in assembled open state, showing the beverage containers;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the automatic cooler of FIGS. 1 and 2 in closed state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The automatic cooler of the present invention is intended for cooling alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages down to a temperature suitable for consumption. The embodiment of the invention described herein and illustrated in the figures is adapted for cooling beer in 600-ml glass bottles. However, the cooler is not limited to this application and may be used for cooling a variety of beverages in different types of containers, such as aluminum cans, glass bottles, plastic bottles, among others. In each cooling batch, one should use containers of the same type and volume, containing the same beverage.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, the automatic cooler according to the invention has an external housing, inside which the beverages are cooled. The housing has a peripheral wall forming a tank at the upper portion, with a top access opening for supplying the tank with beverage containers. As can be seen in FIG. 1, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the housing exhibits a cylindrical shape and is constituted by an equally cylindrical assembly frame with a circular base part 15 and a vertical structure 11, around which a jacket 12 preferably of stainless steel is coupled. An external jacket 13 may further be coupled from outside the stainless-steel jacket 12. The stainless-steel jacket 12 and the external jacket 13 may exhibit openings in the lower part for circulation of air from a cooling circuit, which is arranged within the housing below the tank. At least a portion of the housing 1 surrounded by the jackets is completely closed, where said tank is formed, which is at least partially filled with a cooling liquid that accounts for cooling the beverages down to the desired temperature.

The cooler has a displaceable support platform assembly that supports and displaces the beverage bottles into and out of the cooler. This assembly has a platform base 52 in the form of a disc, on which the bottles are placed. The platform assembly, including the platform base 52, is displaceable up and into the tank of the housing as far as its opening, so as to dip the bottles into the cooling liquid, so that they can be chilled down to the desired temperature and then withdrawn out of the liquid and out of the housing to be served and consumed. In order to carry out this displacement of the platform assembly into and out of the housing, the cooler of the present invention is further provided with a displacement mechanism connected to the platform. In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1, the mechanism for displacing the platform has a DC 24-volt electric motor with a source of electric energy having traction force of about 160 kg. This motor 3 is capable of displacing the platform assembly on which about 10 beer bottles having 600 ml can be supported. The displacement mechanism further uses a bar 4 provided with an endless double-threaded worm screw and a guide that runs in this worm screw. This threaded bar runs within a stainless-steel guide tube 5 of the platform assembly, with the aid of a flange, a bushing with specific sealing and with a special lubrication system. The platform base 52 is fixed to the guide tube 5 of the platform assembly, so that the assembly will be displaced up and down as it is driven by the motor 3, which causes the guide tube 5 to move with respect to the worm-screw bar 4.

A guide plate 6 for the beverage bottles 100 is also fixed to the guide tube 5 in a position above (for instance, bout 40-50 cm away) the platform base 5, so that it is displaceable up and down together with the platform assembly moving into and out of the housing. This guide plate 6 may be made of aluminum and is provided with orifices, in which the containers are fitted. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the cooler is adapted to 600-ml bottles, so that the orifices of the guide plate are sized according to the diameter of these bottles, but these orifices may be adapted to other container sizes, such as cans and bottles of other volumes. Thus, as can be seen in FIG. 2, the bottles remain supported safely on the platform base 52, which enables them to be displaced also safely down as far as the lower point inside the tank, being dipped into the cooling liquid and upward, being withdrawn from this liquid to be served to the consumers.

A device for scraping beverage bottles may also be coupled to the upper part of the housing 1, being arranged above the guide plate 6 of the bottles, to scrape cooling-liquid residues and ice formed on the bottle surface when it is taken out of the cooler. To this end, the scraper is fixed in a position, while the platform assembly moves. As can be seen in FIG. 1, this scraping device is constituted by a scraping support 7 in the form of a second plate, also provided with orifices adapted to the bottle diameter, and a scraping coating 8 coupled to the borders of the orifices, which makes contact with the surface of the bottle when the latter is moved out of the cooler, scraping said residues off. The scraping coating 8 is preferably made of acrylic or silicone web.

The cooler also has a cover 9 for sealing the top access opening of the housing 1. This cover is coupled to the top of the displacement mechanism, thus being displaceable together with the platform assembly, as shown in FIG. 1. When the platform base 52 is displaced as far as the lower point inside the housing, the cover 9 comes into contact with the border of the access opening of the housing 1, sealing it, as can be seen in FIG. 3. Vertical guide rods 91, shown in FIG. 1, may be fixed between the cover 9 and the platform base 52 to aid in positioning and fixing these two parts.

For safety reasons, the cooler has contact sensors such as electric induction sensors, located at the bottom border of the sealing cover and/or at the border of the access opening of the housing. These sensors detect the presence of a body resting at the lower part of the cover 9 and/or at the border of the housing opening. This takes place, for instance, when a user's hand remains in contact with the opening border or with the lower part of the cover 9, even when this cover is moving downward together with the platform assembly. Upon detecting this contact, the sensors output presence signals to an electronic control station, so that downward movement of the displacement mechanism together with the cover 9 and the platform assembly is interrupted. Thereby, one prevents the cooler from being closed and causing injury to people around it.

The cooling circuit remains arranged within the housing to cool the cooling liquid down to a temperature suitable for cooling the beverage, and to keep it at this temperature, so that the cooler will always be ready for use, when it is turned on. The cooling liquid is generally kept at a temperature ranging from −10° C. to −33° C. to achieve the effect of cooling the beverage rapidly.

In order to achieve this cooling performance, in a preferred embodiment of the invention the cooling circuit has an expansion valve 16 with external equalization, a preferably 1.1/4 HP compressor, at least one heat exchange 17 in a plate system and a microchannel condenser 19 actuated by an axial 250-mm motor with a flow rate at 1000 m³/hour. The cooling fluid preferably used in this cooling circuit is the ecologic gas R404, which is suitable for working below −20° C., which facilitates reaching the temperature of the cooling liquid in the range from −10° C. to −30° C. The cooling liquid is preferably based on glycol or a mixture of ethanol and water, which are also suitable for reaching and remaining at this very low temperature range. In this embodiment of the invention, which uses a heat exchanger in the form of a plate, the plate system heat exchanger is arranged outside the tank of cooling liquid. Therefore, said cooling liquid should be directed from the tank into the heat exchanger 17 to be cooled and then returned into the tank at the adequate temperature.

The cooler according to the invention has beverage-temperature detectors inside at least one of the beverage containers when dipped in the cooling liquid. These beverage-temperature detectors are essential to enable the cooler to be controlled on the basis of the beverage temperature per se.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the temperature detectors are constituted as infrared cells or laser transducers. Two transducers may be used, each of them emitting a laser beam. These transducers are positioned and oriented in such a way that the two laser beams cross themselves at a point within a bottle that is dipped in the cooling liquid. This is where the measurement of temperature takes place, and this point is located in the beverage stored in this bottle.

The detectors send signals corresponding to the measured beverage temperature to the control station, which is responsible for centrally controlling both the displacement mechanism and the cooling circuit. Thus, when the beverage temperature reaches a determined and desired value of cooling temperature, the control station actuates the displacement mechanism to displace the platform assembly out of the tank and out of the housing 1. At this moment, the platform assembly is displaced upward together with the cover 9, causing the bottles 100 to emerge out of the cooler automatically at the ideal temperature, and preventing them from exploding.

It is important to remind that the bottles or other containers may explode if they remain immersed in the cooling liquid beyond the necessary time at a too low temperature, since liquid beverage freezes, expands and exerts pressure on the container inside. As a result, the cooler according to the invention eliminates the risk of explosion, since the bottles rise automatically when they reach the ideal temperature, regardless of the initial room temperature and without the use of a timer. In this way, one also prevents the beer from being consumed partially frozen, which upsets and delays the consumption thereof.

The control station further has a user's interface, through which the desired beverage cooling temperature is inputted by a user or operator of the machine. By way of example, the ideal cooling temperature for serving beer in establishments ranges from −1.0° to 0.5° C.

Preferably, the control station is stored in a single electric panel 20 positioned in front of the cooler and has actuation buttons for turning on and off the cooler, in order to configure the machine and inputting the desired beverage temperature value, and to actuate the cooling of the beverage, causing the displacement mechanism to move the platform assembly with the bottles into the tank and dip them into the liquid. The arrangement of the electronic circuits and of the buttons on a single panel close to the cooler helps to prevent failures in reading and updating information and to facilitate maintenance of the balance.

Therefore, the cooler uses a single control station, which actuates and controls the cooler and the cooling of the beverages in a totally automatic manner, it being enough for the operator to press a few buttons. Besides, the cooler displacement mechanism is totally mechanical and easy to operate, so that the operator has only the work of adding the bottles and pressing a single button, causing them to be automatically submerged and, at the end of the process, to return to the surface ready for consumption.

A display screen is arranged on the outer face of the housing and connected to the control station. This screen displays the present temperature of the beverage and/or the remaining time until the beverage is cooled down to the predetermined temperature, only for the purpose of informing the operator.

As can be seen in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the cooler according to the invention further has means for circulating cooling liquid inside the tank, which keep this cooling liquid moving in circular circuit. Preferably, the means for circulating cooling liquid are constituted by a pump 21 that is installed in fluid communication with the tank and with the heat exchanger 17 of the cooling circuit. One may use, for instance, a pump with flow rate of up to 6 liters per minute, actuated by a ½ HP electric motor. The pump 21 is located within the housing 1, but out of the liquid tank. The tank has an outlet and two inlets for the cooling liquid, all of them being in communication with the pump 21. In this way, the pump 21 sucks the cooling liquid through said tank outlet, causing the cooling liquid to circulate through the plate system heat exchanger 17, by means of which it is cooled down to the desired temperature (about −30° C.). Then, the cooled liquid is pumped back into the tank through said two inlets, which guarantees the circular flow of this cooled cooling liquid inside the tank.

This continuous circulation helps to exchange heat between the cooling liquid and the heat exchanger, keeping the temperature homogeneous throughout the liquid within the housing, which improves the performance of cooling the beverage and enables one to maintain the cooling even with the cooler turned off, that is to say, it will always be ready to receive bottles, regardless of being turned off for a long time, provided that it is connected to the electric power.

In order to provide a visual effect of the ice-cold beverage, the cooler according to the invention may further be provided with a smoke machine 22 arranged inside the housing. This machine 22 is actuated by the control station when the beverage reaches the desired cooling temperature and issues smoke when the displacement mechanism displaces the platform assembly and the beverage bottles out of the housing. In this way, when the cooler is opened and the bottles 100 emerge out of it, the smoke is exhaled together with the bottles, generating the visual impression of cold. This smoke machine 22 may also be deactivated by means of a button, so that optionally it may be actuated when the bottles rise. When the machine 22 is deactivated, this guarantees better cooling performance and heat exchange between the bottles and the cooling liquid.

The invention also relates to a method of cooling beverages by means of an automatic cooler of the type described herein. According to this method, after turning on the cooler, one determines a desired beverage cooling temperature by means of the control station and inputs this desired predetermined beverage temperature into the control station by means of the user's interface. The cooling liquid inside the housing is automatically cooled down to an adequate temperature in the range from −10° C. to −33° C. so as to cool the beverage to the desired value in a short time interval. The containers or beverage bottles are positioned on the platform base 52, remaining fitted in the orifices of the guide plate 6, guaranteeing safe support of the bottles 100 on the platform base 52 during the movement of the platform assembly.

Then, the cooler is actuated for cooling the beverage bottles. This actuation is made by pressing an actuation button on the panel 20 of the control station. This central sends an actuation signal to the displacement mechanism, which displaces the platform assembly into the tank in the housing 1, until the beverage bottles remain submerged in the cooling liquid. The cover 9 goes down together with the platform assembly as far as it rests on the border of the access opening of the cooler, sealing it. The temperature detectors then go on to measure the beverage temperature in one of the bottles immersed in the cooling liquid. Since usually the bottles are previously stored in the same environment, all the beverages placed in the cooler are approximately at the same temperature and will cool at the same speed as the beverage in the bottle where the temperature is measured.

The temperature values measured are sent to the control station, where they are electronically monitored, until they correspond to the predetermined value of the desired beverage temperature. When this target temperature is reached in the beverage that is being monitored, the control station sends an actuation signal to the displacement mechanism, which then displaces the platform assembly with the bottles out of the tank and out of the housing. This movement provided by the actuation mechanism also causes the cooler cover to open, enabling manual access to the cooled bottles. In this way, it is guaranteed that the bottle will be immersed in the cooling liquid for the shorter time period necessary for them to reach the ideal temperature, which brings about lower and optimized energy consumption.

This is also a safety measure, since if the bottles remain too long inversed in the cooling liquid at a too low temperature, they will explode. The method and the cooler according to the invention do not need a timer, since the bottle rises automatically, eliminating the risk of explosion and leakage.

At the moment when the monitored beverage reaches the desired target temperature, the method according to the invention may optionally carry out the step of generating and emitting smoke over the bottles when they are displaced out of the cooler. In this case, the smoke machine 22, which is also connected to the control station, receives an actuation signal from this station at the moment when the monitored beverage reaches the desired temperature, activating the emission of smoke over the beverage and causing the visual effect of cold when the bottles emerge from the cooler.

In the method according to the invention, the cooling liquid is kept continuously cooled inside the cooler at a temperature suitable for cooling beverages rapidly, usually between −10° and −30° c., and it may vary within this temperature range. In this way, while the cooler is turned on, it will always be ready for immediate use. The method of cooling beverages continually performs the circulation of the cooling liquid within the housing by means of the circulation pump 21 and its motor, causing the cooling liquid to come into contact with the heat exchanger of the plate type 17 of the cooling circuit during the circulation, which contributes to keeping the liquid at the desired temperature in a homogeneous manner within the housing.

In order to guarantee operation safety of the cooler while carrying out the cooling method, one may carry out a step of interrupting the downward movement of the platform assembly together with the cover. This interruption takes place when the contact sensors detect contact of a body with the lower part of the cover 9 and/or with the border of the opening of the cooler, which may take place when the operator or user leaves his hand resting below the cover or on the border of the cooler. In this way, one prevents the hand from getting trapped and hurt by the cooler.

In the embodiment of the invention described herein, in which 10 600-ml beer bottles are placed per cooling cycle into the cooler, it reaches cooling capacity of 80 bottles in 1 hour and 20 minutes, with the advantage of having, on average, every 7 minutes, 10 bottles (6 litters of beer) cooled and ready for consumption. This number of bottles may be increased according to the desired beverage temperature. For instance, in hot environments, a 600-ml beer bottle is at an initial temperature higher than 25° C. and, therefore, it takes about 8 minutes to cool down to a temperature ranging from 0.5 to −1° C. In cold places, this bottle is already placed into the cooler with the beverage at a temperature of about 15° C. or lower, so that it will cool more rapidly and, therefore, it may not be left within this rapid cooler for the same 8 minutes, since there is the risk of exploding. The cooling time may also vary according to the beverage to be cooled, as well as the type and the volume of the container, for example, 350 ml cans will need less time than 1-L beer bottles.

With the cooler and the cooling method according to the present invention, the operator does not need to configure the equipment as a function of variations in room temperature or in the volume of type of beverage to be cooled, it being enough to configure the target temperature of the beverage, but without there being any risk of explosion or leakage of the beverage containers.

In addition, the cooler and the method of the present invention eliminate the need to continuously measure and monitor the temperature of the cooling liquid within the housing, since the control is carried out on the basis of the temperature of the beverage itself, which causing the cooling to be more accurate and safe, further achieving a more homogeneous temperature in all the bottles cooled in the same batch. The temperature of the cooling liquid may be measured and controlled only to be kept by the cooling circuit within the desired temperature range, but this does not serve as a parameter for determining the cooling period of the beverage bottles.

A preferred example of embodiment having been described, one should understand that the scope of the present invention embraces other possible advantages, being limited only by the contents of the accompanying claims, which include the possible equivalents.

Claims

1. An automatic beverage cooler, characterized by comprising:

housing (1) with a peripheral wall forming a tank with a top access opening, the tank being at least partially filled with a cooling liquid;

a support platform assembly for a plurality of beverage containers (100), the platform assembly being displaceable into and out of the tank;

a displacement mechanism coupled to the platform assembly, capable of displacing it into and out of the tank;

a cooling circuit for the cooling liquid;

temperature detectors for detecting the temperature of beverage inside at least one container when the latter is immersed in the cooling liquid in the tank, and

a control station that controls the displacement mechanism and the cooling circuit, with a user's interface for input of a determined beverage-cooling temperature; wherein the control station receives information about the temperature of the beverage in the container, sent by the temperature detectors, and actuates the displacement mechanism to displace the platform assembly out of the housing (1) when the beverage temperature reaches the value of the determined cooling temperature.

2. The automatic cooler according to claim 1, characterized by comprising a cover (9) coupled to the displacement mechanism and being displaceable together with the platform assembly up and down until it comes in contact with the top border of the opening of the housing in downward direction.

3. The automatic cooler according to claim 2, characterized by comprising contact sensors at the lower part of the cover (9) and/or at the border of the access opening of the housing (1), which generate a signal for interruption of the displacement of the mechanism in downward direction in the event of detection of contact of a body with the lower part of the cover (9) and/or with the border of the opening of the housing (1).

4. The automatic cooler according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the cooling liquid comprises glycol, ethanol, water or a mixture of these elements.

5. The automatic cooler according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the cooling liquid is kept at a temperature ranging from −10° C. to −33° C.

6. The automatic cooler according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the cooling circuit comprises an expansion valve (16) with external equalization, a compressor (18), a plate heat-exchanger (17), and a microchannel condenser (19) actuated by an axial motor.

7. The automatic cooler according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the cooling circuit comprises R404 ecologic gas as a cooling fluid.

8. The automatic cooler according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the cooling circuit is arranged inside the housing (1) outside the tank with cooling liquid.

9. The automatic cooler according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized by comprising means for circulating cooling liquid inside the tank.

10. The automatic cooler according to claim 9, characterized in that the means for circulating the cooling liquid comprise a pump (21) actuated by an electric motor, wherein the pump is in fluid communication with the tank and with the heat exchanger (17) of the cooling circuit, and pumps the cooling liquid out of the tank through the heat exchanger (17) and back into the tank.

11. The automatic cooler according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the beverage-temperature detector comprises at least two transducers that emit signals that cross themselves within the beverage inside a container immersed in the cooling liquid, at the point where the temperature is measured.

12. The automatic cooler according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the platform assembly has:

a platform base (52) for placing the beverage containers, this platform base (52) being submersible into the cooling liquid inside the tank;

a guide tube (5) to which the platform base (52) is fixed; and

a guide plate (6) for beverage containers, fixed to the guide tube (5) above the platform base (52); the platform base (52), the guide tube (5) and the guide plate (6) being displaceable together with the displacement mechanism.

13. The automatic cooler according to claim 12, characterized in that the guide plate (6) is provided with orifices for fitting the beverage containers.

14. The automatic cooler according to either of claim 12 or 13, characterized in that the displacement mechanism comprises an electric motor (3) and a bar (4) provided with a helical screw, wherein the guide tube (5) of the platform assembly is coupled to the helical screw of the bar (4) and displaced up and down with respect to the bar (4) by the motor (3).

15. The automatic cooler according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the control station controls the operation of the displacement mechanism and of the cooling circuit.

16. The automatic cooler according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized by comprising a smoke machine (22) arranged inside the housing (1), which is actuatable by the control station to emit smoke when the displacement mechanism is actuated to displace the platform assembly out of the tank.

17. The automatic cooler according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that a display viewer is arranged on the outer face of the housing and displays the beverage temperature and/or the remaining time until the beverage is cooled to the predetermined temperature

18. A method of cooling beverages by means of an automatic cooler as defined in any one of claims 1 to 17, characterized by comprising the steps of:

inputting a determined beverage-cooling temperature into the control station;

positioning beverage containers (100) on the platform assembly;

displacing the platform assembly (2) into the tank of the housing (1) until the beverage containers (100) remain immersed in the cooling liquid;

measuring the beverage temperature inside a container immersed in the cooling liquid by means of the temperature detectors;

monitoring, by means of the control station, the temperature of the beverage inside the container measured by the temperature detectors;

actuating the displacement of the platform assembly (2) out of the container when the measured temperature of the beverage reaches the determined cooling temperature.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that the cooling liquid is kept continuously at a temperature ranging from −10° C. to −33° C.

20. The method according to either of claim 18 or 19, characterized in that the cooling liquid circulates continuously inside the tank (1) and contacts the heat exchanger (17) of the cooling circuit arranged outside the tank during the circulation.

21. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 20, characterized in that the beverage temperature detectors send the information on the measured beverage temperature to the control station and, when the beverage temperature reaches the determined cooling temperature, the control station sends an actuation signal to the displacement mechanism to displace the platform assembly out of the tank.

22. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 21, characterized in that the downward displacement of the platform assembly is interrupted in the event of detection of contact of a body with the lower part of the cover (9) and/or with the border of the housing opening (1).

23. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 22, characterized by comprising a step of emitting smoke upon displacement of the platform out of the housing.