DE29612202U1 - Device for cooling and keeping food cool - Google Patents

Description

Device for cooling and keeping food cool

The invention relates to a device for cooling and keeping foodstuffs cool, in particular beverages filled in cans, bottles or other beverage containers, by means of water.

In summer, it is often desirable to have drinks, especially chilled drinks, ^available when staying near natural bodies of water, such as bathing lakes, rivers or the sea. However, providing chilled drinks poses problems, especially in summer temperatures.

It is well known that drinks can be transported and stored chilled using cool bags. Such cool bags work either with so-called cooling packs, i.e. cold storage devices that are brought to the required cooling temperature in the freezer at home and then stored together with the drinks in the heat-insulated cool bag. Over a certain period of time, the cooling packs release the stored cold into the surrounding drinks containers and thus cool the drinks inside.

Also known are cooling bags that have an electrically operated cooling unit that can be connected to the battery of a nearby parked vehicle via a corresponding plug and the cigarette lighter in order to generate the necessary cooling power.

Both measures can, in the case of

However, the electrically operated cooling bags have certain disadvantages in practice. Cooling bags are bulky and, especially in the case of cooling

[FileANM\AA0501B1.doc] Description, 12.07.96 lila Werbedesign & Marketing GmbH

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Bags with electrically operated cooling units are heavy and expensive to buy. Taking a cooling bag with you, for example on a bicycle or on a long walk, is either not possible or requires a considerable amount of effort.

Cooler bags that use ice packs can only provide the required cooling capacity for a certain period of time of a few hours; if the ice packs heat up over time, they are no longer able to keep the contents of the cooler bag at a comfortable drinking temperature. Once the ice packs are exhausted, they have to be cooled down sufficiently in the freezer for a certain period of time, usually overnight, so that such cooler bags may not be available for two consecutive days.

Although electrically operated cool bags do not exhibit this problem, they may place such a strain on the vehicle battery that serves as the energy supply that after a long period of cool bag operation, the battery no longer has the power required to start the vehicle.
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It has also long been known to drink drinks on the banks of

To cool bodies of water by placing or laying the bottles in the shallow water near the shore in order to use the water, which is generally cooler than the air, as a cooling medium.

However, this approach is often not very practical for various reasons: in particular, in smaller, shallow and stagnant bodies of water, such as small bathing ponds, the water in the shallow shore zone can heat up to such an extent that the drinks can no longer be brought down to a comfortable drinking temperature.

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cooled. Temperatures of over 20° lead to corresponding drink temperatures and in particular drinks containing sugar and carbon dioxide, such as lemonade or the like, taste sticky/sweet at such high temperatures and no longer have any refreshing value. This effect is intensified by the fact that the sunlight on the drink containers, which are only slightly below the water surface, can heat up their contents even more. Finally, glass bottles placed near the shore pose a considerable risk of injury due to glass breakage and splintering or shards.

The invention, in contrast, has set itself the task of designing a device for cooling and keeping foodstuffs cool, in particular drinks filled in cans, bottles or other beverage containers, using water, in such a way that the drinks can be cooled down to a pleasantly low drinking temperature and kept there for any length of time.

To solve this problem, the present invention proposes a floating buoyancy body according to claim 1, which has a receiving device on its underside that is permeable to water but impermeable to the beverage containers. The floating buoyancy body with the receiving device for the beverage containers underneath allows the beverage containers to be moved away from the warm shore zone into deeper and moving water.

where temperatures are expected to be lower on the surface than in the shore zone. In addition, the beverage containers are positioned in the holder on the underside of the buoyancy body in deeper water layers, for example 40 or 50 cm below the water surface, where experience has shown that temperatures can be up to 10° below those directly on the water surface. In a body of water that is 20° near the surface, this would require storage.

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storage temperature of the beverage containers at around 10° or even less, which can already mean almost cellar temperatures. A drinking temperature of around 10° is sufficient for good taste and the necessary refreshment.

By placing the beverage containers in the holder beneath the free-floating buoyancy body, the beverage containers are no longer in the immediate vicinity of the shore, so that damage or destruction of the containers with the associated possible risk of injury is also excluded.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject of the subclaims.

Preferably, the buoyancy body is inflatable so that when not in use it is small and therefore space-saving and also lightweight and can be easily stored in a bathing bag or the like.

If the buoyancy body has the shape of a floating object (in reality or nature) on a reduced scale, this has the advantage of a visually appealing design of the buoyancy body, for example in the form of an inflatable boat , a ship or the like.

Conversely, the buoyancy body can have the shape of a floating object (in reality or nature) or animal on an enlarged scale, for example a water bird, frog, water lily or the like.

In a further advantageous embodiment, the buoyancy body can have a base structure that can be clad in different ways. This makes it possible to

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and to attach different panels to the same basic structure, which means that the buoyancy body can be redesigned again and again.

Preferably, the panel is attached to the base structure using snap fasteners so that the panel can be attached and removed quickly and easily.

The interior of the buoyancy body can also be accessed through a lockable opening in the cladding. Due to the cladding attached to the basic structure, an interior or hollow space is created between the buoyancy body and the cladding, which can then be used to store objects that do not necessarily have to be within reach while staying at the body of water, for example a hand or foot pump for inflating the buoyancy body or the like.

Preferably, at least the bottom of the buoyancy body is essentially opaque. As a result, the beverage containers placed below in the receiving device are in the shade, so that the cooling effect of the surrounding water is not weakened by sunlight.

In one embodiment, the receiving device can be a net with a correspondingly narrow mesh size in order to allow largely unhindered access and circulation of the surrounding water, but to reliably prevent the beverage containers from falling out.

In another embodiment, the receiving device can be a perforated foil, which can achieve essentially the same effects and advantages as a net.

[FilKANM\AA0501B1.doc] Description, 12.07.96 UIa Werbedesign & Marketing GmbH

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The holder can be detachably attached to the buoyancy body. This makes it possible to use the buoyancy body alone, for example as a toy or swimming aid, where the net or perforated foil attached to the underside of the buoyancy body would be disruptive or even dangerous. Furthermore, by partially removing the holder from the buoyancy body, the drinks containers can be accessed or new drinks containers can be refilled for cooling.

Alternatively or additionally, the receiving device can have a lockable access opening in order to either remove beverage containers or to refill new beverage containers.

In order to prevent the buoyancy body from drifting away accidentally due to wind and/or currents, an anchor line is preferably provided which can be connected to the buoyancy body and with which the buoyancy body can be secured either on the shore by tying it there or by means of a heavy object, for example a stone in the manner of an anchor.

Further details, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments and modifications thereof with reference to the drawing.

It shows:

Fig. 1 shows, partly schematically simplified, a first embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a representation corresponding to Fig. 1 of a further possible embodiment of the present invention; and

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Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a buoyancy body with a coverable basic structure.

In Figures 1 to 3 of the drawing, identical reference symbols designate identical or corresponding components or elements.

A device 2 according to the invention for cooling and keeping food cool (hereinafter referred to as "device") comprises, in the simplest embodiment according to Fig. 1, a buoyant body 4, which in a particularly preferred embodiment is a single- or multi-chamber inflatable air chamber body made of, for example, PVC. One or more corresponding valves 6 are provided for inflating the buoyant body 4, one of which is shown in Fig. 1. The buoyant body 4 can just as well be a buoyant solid body made of, for example, PUR foam or polystyrene.

In the simplest embodiment of the present invention, the buoyancy body 4 has the inflatable boat-like shape shown in Fig. 1 with a circular or oval torus 8 and a base surface 10. On the underside of the torus ring 8 or on the underside of the base surface 10, a receiving device 12 (shown schematically in a simplified manner) is arranged, which serves to receive one or more beverage containers 14, for example beverage cans.

In use, after the buoyancy body 4 has been inflated via the valve(s) 6, it is placed on the water surface 16, with the receiving device 12 lying below the water surface.

The receiving device 12 is permeable to water, but impermeable to the beverage containers 14 and can

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either a correspondingly close-meshed net or a perforated plastic film. The receiving device 12 is preferably detachably attached to the underside of the buoyancy body 4, i.e. to the underside of the torus 8 and/or base surface 10, for example with a number of snap fasteners. Alternatively to this or in addition to this, the receiving device 12 can have a closable access opening not shown in the drawing, for example a flap closable with a Velcro fastener or snap fasteners or a slot closable with a Velcro fastener or zipper or snap fasteners.

To cool the drinks in the receiving device 12, the drinks containers 14 are filled into the receiving device 12 either after the receiving device 12 has been partially removed from the underside of the buoyancy body 4 or after the access opening has been opened, after which the receiving device 12 is reconnected to the underside of the buoyancy body 4 or the access opening is closed. If the entire device 2 is now lowered into the water according to Fig. 1, the drinks containers 14 sink downwards in the receiving device 12 due to their weight, but cannot leave it due to the correspondingly close-meshed design of the latter, but instead collect at the lowest point there according to Fig. 1. If the buoyancy body 4 floats on the water 16, the beverage containers 14 are located at a certain distance below the water surface, whereby the water, which is sometimes considerably cooler in these deeper layers of water, can circulate largely unhindered through the receiving device 12 and wash around the beverage containers 14 located therein, so that this cool water of, for example, 10 or 15° can cool the beverages in the beverage containers to a pleasant drinking temperature and can also keep them at this temperature for as long as this is desired.

[File:ANM\AA0501 B1.doc] Description, 12.07.96 lila Werbedesign & Marketing GmbH

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In order to prevent the buoyancy body 4 from drifting away due to offshore wind or current, an anchor line 18 is also provided, which can be connected to the buoyancy body 4 at one end and can be attached to the shore at its other end or secured by an anchor, for example a suitably heavy stone.

According to Fig. 1, the floor surface 10 is preferably opaque, so that at the time of the strongest solar radiation, when in the summer months the sun is very high in the sky and can shine correspondingly intensely into deeper layers of water, a shadow is cast by the opaque floor surface 10 onto the beverage containers 14 lying underneath, so that the cooling effect is not impaired by the incident solar radiation.

To remove one or more beverage containers 14, the buoyancy body 4 is pulled close to the bank with the aid of the line 18, the access opening in the receiving device 12 is opened or the receiving device 12 is partially removed from the underside of the buoyancy body 4, after which access to the interior of the receiving device 12 is then possible to remove any number of beverage containers 14.

The device 2 according to the invention has, among other things, the significant advantage that the cooling effect can be maintained for as long as the buoyancy body 4 is in the water. In order to achieve cooling performance, one is therefore not dependent on additional aids such as cooling bags with ice packs or electric cooling units. In addition, the device 2 according to the invention can be folded up small when not in use after the air has been released from the buoyancy body 4 and is lightweight. If the buoyancy body 4 is sufficiently large and the receiving device 12 is separated from the buoyancy body 4,

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removable, the buoyancy body 4 can also be used as a toy or swimming aid.

Of course, the shape of the buoyancy body 4 is not limited to the embodiment shown in Fig. 1. For example, the buoyancy body 4 can have the shape of a (also found in nature) floating object on a reduced scale. An example of this would be the shape shown in Fig. 1 in the form of an inflatable boat. Other shapes would be, for example, ships or the shape of a watered space capsule, explained in more detail with reference to Figures 2 and 3. The buoyancy body can also have the shape of a (also found in nature) floating object on an enlarged scale, for example the shape of a water bird such as a duck or the like, or another water animal, for example a frog, or an aquatic plant, for example a water lily pad with a flower on it.

Furthermore, as explained in more detail below in Figures 2 and 3 , the buoyancy body can have a more three-dimensional basic structure than the flat design of Figure 1, which can then be provided with various coverings. An example of such a coverable basic structure is shown in Figure 3. The same reference numerals as in Figure 1 designate the same elements or components in Figure 3 and a detailed description is not given again.

The basic structure 20 shown in Fig. 3 essentially consists of the buoyancy body 4 in the form of a for example circular torus 8 with the preferably opaque bottom surface 10, wherein the torus 8 can be inflated via one or more valves 6. A structure 22 is attached to the upper peripheral edge of the torus 8, which in the embodiment shown in Fig. 3 consists of four obliquely upwardly extending

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webs 24a to 24d, which are attached with their lower ends to the upper peripheral edge of the torus 8, and from here run diagonally upwards towards each other and meet either at a common point or an upper cover plate 26. The webs 24a to 24d and optionally the plate 26 are preferably also inflatable, whereby the inflation either takes place in one go together with the inflation of the torus 8, or the webs 24a to 24d have one or more valves of their own.

A plurality of fastening means, for example snap fasteners 28, are provided on the outward-facing surface of the webs 24a to 24d, and with these snap fasteners 28 a panel can then be removably fastened to the base structure 20 or to the structure 22.

An example of such a removable panel is shown in Fig. 2, whereby this panel 30, once attached to the buoyancy body 4, gives the appearance of a watered space capsule from the APOLLO program. The receiving device 12 in the form of a net or a perforated foil for receiving and storing the beverage containers 14 is again attached to the underside of the buoyancy body 4. Also present is the anchor line 18, which can be used to prevent the buoyancy body 4 from drifting away.

As can be seen directly from Figures 2 and 3, an interior space 32 is created by covering the basic structure 20 or the structure 22 between the outer peripheral covering 30 and the bottom surface 10 of the buoyancy body 4. This interior space 32 can preferably be made accessible through a closable opening 34 in the covering 30. In the embodiment of Fig. 2, this closable opening 34 would be modeled on the exit hatch of the space capsule. The interior space 32 is thus available for accommodating further objects, for example food.

[File:ANM\AA0501 B1.doc] Description, 12.07.96 IHa Werbedesign & Marketing GmbH

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Foods that require resting on water for cooling

16 with the interposition of the base surface 10 is sufficient, or e.g. a hand or foot pump for inflating the buoyancy body 4. In this embodiment, the base surface 10 can also be dispensed with if necessary, and the drinks or watertight food containers can be placed directly into the net or the perforated foil through the hatch or opening 34 and removed from it.

The possibility of providing the structure 22 of the basic structure 20 with any desired covering 30 also provides the possibility of, for example, providing advertising prints on the covering 30.

If the basic structure 20 or the structure 22 according to Fig. 3 is used, the buoyancy body 4 has

ner cladding 30 an interesting exterior, reminiscent of a buoy or the like, whereby this impression can be supported by an appropriate choice of color for the torus 8 and the webs 24a to 24d and, if necessary, the plate 26.

It is understood that the design of the structure 22 is not limited to the shape chosen in Fig. 3, but that other shapes are also possible, for example cylinders, cubes, hemispheres or the like.

Instead of the snap fasteners 28 for fastening the cover 30, Velcro fasteners can also be used, or the cover 30 is pulled over the structure 22 from above like a sack and then pulled together on the underside of the buoyancy body 4 using a lashing or gathering cord and thus stretched over the entire buoyancy body 4 including the base structure 20.

The use of the device 2 according to the invention is not limited to cooling and keeping drinks cool.

[File:ANM\AA0501 B1 .doc] Description, 12.07.96 lila Werbedesign & Marketing GmbH

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Not only is it limited to frozen food, but other foods that are naturally waterproof (e.g. certain types of fruit or vegetables) or food that is packaged waterproof in cans, cups, etc. or sealed in foil (yoghurt, cheese, sausage, etc.) can also be cooled.

Claims (13)

Protection claims 1, Device for cooling and keeping foodstuffs cool, in particular drinks filled in cans, bottles or other drinks containers (14), by means of water, with a floating buoyancy body (4) which has on its underside a receiving device (12) which is permeable to water but impermeable to the drinks containers (14). 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the buoyancy body (4) is inflatable. 3. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the buoyancy body (4) has the shape of a buoyant object on a reduced scale. 4. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the buoyancy body (4) has the shape of a floating object on an enlarged scale. 5. Device according to one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the buoyancy body (4) has a base structure (20, 22) which can be clad in different ways. 6. Device according to claim 5, characterized in that the covering (30) can be fastened to the base structure (20, 22) by means of snap fasteners (28). 7. Device according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the interior (32) of the buoyancy body (4) is accessible through a closable opening (34) in the casing (30)· [FiieANM\AA0501A1.DOC] 12.07.1996 IHa Werbedesign & Marketing GmbH 85354 Freising 8. Device according to one of claims 1 to ¹ 7, characterized in that at least the bottom (10) of the buoyancy body (4) is substantially opaque. 9. Device according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the receiving device (12) is a net. 10. Device according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the receiving device (12) is a perforated film. 11. Device according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the receiving device (12) is detachably attached to the buoyancy body (4). 12. Device according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the receiving device (12) has a closable access opening. 13. Device according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized by an anchor line connectable to it (18).