RECIPIENT FOR COOLING BEVERAGES

Abstract

A vessel for cooling drinks includes external walls and inner walls that can be joined together to define internal housings to house drinks containers. The walls contain a volume of eutectic liquid, which absorbs heat and cools the drink by contact through the walls.

Description

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention falls within the technical field of portable containers which keep cold, and refers in particular to a container for cooling beverages which allows to cool beverages which are previously at room temperature from the walls of the container itself.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In a conventional way, when a drink is to be cooled, it is placed inside a refrigerator or cold room for a suitable period of time to achieve the desired temperature of the drink. These refrigerators or cold stores require an electrical supply, so that when a user does not have access to this electrical supply, for example, when the user is in an outside place, the cooling of the drink is not possible.

In order to keep a drink cold at a suitable temperature, the use of thermal containers is known, which include adequate insulation to prevent the drink from heating up. However, in this case it is necessary to previously cool the drink before placing it in the thermal container, as it is necessary for the drink to be introduced into the thermal container at a sufficiently low temperature so that during consumption the drink is at the desired temperature.

Therefore, it is evident that a container is needed to cool drinks that are at room temperature without the need for energy external to the container itself, such as electricity.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With the container for the cooling of drinks of the invention, the above-mentioned disadvantages are solved, presenting other advantages that will be described below.

The container for cooling beverages in accordance with the present invention comprises a plurality of walls defining at least one housing for the placement of at least one beverage, and is characterized by such at least one wall comprising an eutectic liquid which by absorbing heat cools the beverage.

In this way, the container allows a drink to be cooled by the container itself, through the eutectic liquid contained in at least one of its walls, without requiring any external source of energy.

The container comprises external walls and the eutectic liquid may be arranged on the external walls, and may also comprise internal walls and the eutectic liquid may be arranged on the internal walls. In other words, the eutectic liquid may be arranged on at least one of the external walls, at least one of the internal walls, or on all the walls, both external and internal.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the interior walls are formed from interlocking plates, defining a plurality of interior accommodations for the placement of at least one drink. For example, these plates can be connected by means of additional slots.

Advantageously, at least one wall of the container is made of plastic and is hollow to hold the eutectic liquid, or all the walls of the container are made of plastic and each wall is hollow to hold the eutectic liquid. In addition, at least one of the walls comprises at least one stopper for introducing or removing the eutectic liquid.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To complement the description being made and in order to help a better understanding of the characteristics of the invention, according to a preferred embodiment of it, is accompanied as an integral part of that description a set of drawings where with illustrative and not restrictive, has been represented as follows:

FIG. 1.—Shows a perspective view of a container for cooling beverages in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2.—Shows a perspective view of the container for cooling beverages in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention, with its interior walls in their position of use.

FIG. 3.—It shows a section view of one of the walls of the container for cooling beverages in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention, in which it can be seen that the wall is hollow and houses the eutectic liquid inside.

FIG. 4.—Shows a perspective view of a container's section according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 5.—Shows a view from above of a third preferential embodiment of the container, in which it has a cylindrical geometry.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

A detailed explanation of an example of a preferred embodiment of the object of the present invention is given below with the help of the above-mentioned figures.

As shown in the attached figures, the container for cooling beverages in accordance with the present invention, generally indicated by the reference number (1), comprises an outer wall (2) and an inner wall (3) defining a plurality of housings (7) for beverages. It should be noted, however, that the inner walls (3) are not essential, and that the container (1) could comprise only the outer walls (2) defining a single housing (7) for a beverage.

In addition, the container (1) also includes a bottom, which cannot be seen in the figures and, although it has not been depicted in the figures, it could also include a lid so that container 1 can be closed at the top.

In order to cool drinks, at least one of the outer (2) or inner (3) walls contains an eutectic liquid (5), which cools the drink by absorbing heat through the walls (2,3). As shown in FIG. 3, where an outer wall (2) is depicted in cross-section, the outer wall (2) is hollow, e.g. made of plastic, and houses the eutectic liquid (5). In addition, at least one of the walls (2), (3) includes at least one plug (6) for introducing or removing the eutectic liquid (5).

If desired, the bottom of the container (1) could also contain eutectic liquid (5), the bottom being of an equal or similar configuration to the walls (2), (3).

In accordance with the design shown in FIGS. 1-3, the interior walls (3) are made up of two panels with slots (4), with the slots (4) of one panel facing upwards and the slots (4) of the other panel facing downwards, so that they can be connected to each other, forming a framework that defines a plurality of housings (7) for drinks, as shown in FIG. 2.

It should be noted, however, that the inner walls (3) could have any suitable configuration, provided that it is possible to define a plurality of housings (7) for drinks.

In order to use the container for cooling beverages of the invention it is simply necessary to place the beverages in their respective housings (7) of the container (1) at room temperature, without prior cooling.

When the drinks are placed in the housing (7), the eutectic liquid (5) on the walls (2), (3) will absorb heat from the drinks, cooling them down. This means that no external power source, e.g. an electrical connection or batteries, need be used to cool the drinks, nor does it need to be pre-cooled to keep them at a suitable temperature.

FIG. 4 shows a cutting of a second embodiment of the container (1). As can be seen, the walls (2), (3), incorporate defined curvatures (8) in their lateral faces, which collaborate in the introduction and retention of the drink containers inside the housings (7), as well as increasing the contact surface with the container, accelerating its cooling.

FIG. 5 shows a third version of the container (1), which in this case is made up of a single external wall (2) with a curved and closed geometry, which gives the container (1) a cylindrical shape, and a single inner wall (3), which is horizontal and has a number of through holes as housing (7) for the introduction of the drink containers.

As can be seen in the attached figures, the outer walls (2) are provided with slots (9) near the top as handles to allow the container (1) to be held.

Despite the fact that reference has been made to a specific embodiment of the invention, it is clear to a person skilled in the art that the described container for cooling beverages is susceptible to numerous variations and modifications, and that all the details mentioned can be replaced by other technically equivalent ones, without deviating from the scope of protection defined by the attached claims.

Claims

1. A container for cooling beverages, comprising:

a plurality of walls defining at least one housing for the placement of at least one beverage, wherein: at least one of the walls includes a eutectic liquid which, by absorbing heat, cools the beverage by contact through the walls.

2. The container for cooling beverages according to claim 1, wherein:

the container comprises outer walls; and

the eutectic liquid is arranged in the outer walls.

3. The container for cooling of beverages according to claim 1, wherein:

the container comprises inner walls; and

the eutectic liquid is arranged in the inner walls.

4. The container for cooling beverages according to claim 3, wherein the inner walls are formed from interlocking plates, defining a plurality of interior housings for the placement of at least one beverage.

5. The container for cooling beverages according to claim 4, wherein the coupling of these plates forming the inner walls is done by means of complementary slots.

6. The container for cooling beverages according to claim 1, wherein at least one wall of the container is made of plastic and is hollow to accommodate the eutectic liquid.

7. The container for cooling beverages according to claim 1, wherein:

all walls of the container are made of plastic material; and

each wall is hollow to accommodate the eutectic liquid.

8. The container for cooling beverages according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the walls comprises at least one stopper for introducing or removing the eutectic liquid.

9. The container for cooling beverages according to claim 1, wherein the outer walls additionally comprise through slots for holding the container.

10. The container for cooling beverages according to claim 1, wherein the walls, comprise defined curvatures on their side faces.

11. The container for cooling of beverages according to claim 1, wherein:

the container comprises inner walls; and

the eutectic liquid is arranged in the inner walls.

12. The container for cooling beverages according to claim 11, wherein the inner walls are formed from interlocking plates, defining a plurality of interior housings for the placement of at least one beverage.

13. The container for cooling beverages according to claim 12, wherein the coupling of these plates forming the inner walls is done by means of complementary slots.

14. The container for cooling beverages according to claim 2, wherein at least one wall of the container is made of plastic and is hollow to accommodate the eutectic liquid.

15. The container for cooling beverages according to claim 2, wherein:

all walls of the container are made of plastic material; and

each wall is hollow to accommodate the eutectic liquid.

16. The container for cooling beverages according to claim 2, wherein at least one of the walls comprises at least one stopper for introducing or removing the eutectic liquid.

17. The container for cooling beverages according to claim 3, wherein at least one wall of the container is made of plastic and is hollow to accommodate the eutectic liquid.

18. The container for cooling beverages according to claim 3, wherein:

all walls of the container are made of plastic material; and

each wall is hollow to accommodate the eutectic liquid.

19. The container for cooling beverages according to claim 3, wherein at least one of the walls comprises at least one stopper for introducing or removing the eutectic liquid.