WO2006006789A1

WO2006006789A1 - A bottle cap to improve cooling efficiency and refrigeration method for using this

Info

Publication number: WO2006006789A1
Application number: PCT/KR2005/002168
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ja Seung Kang
Original assignee: Ja Seung Kang
Priority date: 2004-07-09
Filing date: 2005-07-06
Publication date: 2006-01-19
Also published as: JP2008505812A; CN100556768C; CN101005998A; KR200375744Y1

Abstract

Disclosed are a bottle cap, and more particularly, a bottle cap for improving cooling of a bottle made of a material having low heat conductivity, such as a PET bottle, and a cooling method using the bottle cap. The bottle cap comprises a heat conduction rod protruded from the lower surface of an upper portion thereof, an ornamental portion formed on the lower end of the heat conduction rod, and a lid covering the upper portion and made of a material having low heat conductivity. The cooling method using the bottle cap effectively transfers coldness of a refrigerator to the contents of the bottle through the heat conduction rod made of a material having higher heat conductivity than that of the bottle, and causes the bottle cap to directly contact a refrigerant pipe of the refrigerator, thereby increasing cooling effects.

Description

[DESCRI PTION]

[invention Title]

A BOTTLE CAP TO IMPROVE COOLING EFFICIENCY AND REFRIGERATION METHOD FOR USING THIS

[Technical Field]

The present invention relates to a bottle cap for more rapidly cooling a beverage contained in a PET bottle, More particularly, it is about a bottle cap comprising a heat conduction rod protruded from an upper portion thereof, an ornamental portion formed on the lower end of the heat conduction rod, and a lid covering the upper portion and made of a material having low heat conductivity. It regards a cooling method using the bottle cap, which directly contacts a refrigerant pipe of a refrigerator for increasing cooling effects .

[Background Art]

Generally, beverages are contained in various containers, such as packs, aluminum cans, glass bottles, and PET bottles. Recently, PET bottles, which are inexpensive and light, have been widely used.

PET, which is an engineering plastic material made of Polyethylene Terephthalate resin, was developed by Du-pont, U.S.A. in 1976 and entered the market thereafter. PET bottles have become tremendously popular globally and have substantially replaced glass bottles for containing food and drink in a short period of time.

In South Korea, PET bottles were first introduced as bottles for cooking oil in 1979, and the rate of increase in the usage of the PET bottles has been large every year due to the drastic increase of beverage consumption along with the economic development during the 80' s. Now, the PET bottles are indispensable articles are handy everywhere.

However, the above PET bottle has a defect. Namely, the PET bottle has lower heat conductivity than containers made of other materials. Since the PET bottle has low heat conductivity, when the PET bottle that was stored at room temperature is put into a refrigerator for a cold drink it takes a long time to cool the beverage contained in the PET bottle.

In order to overcome such drawback, people must store PET bottles containing beverages in the refrigerator for a long time or must place them in iced water in the refrigerator. However, these methods cause inefficiency or troublesomeness in using the refrigerator.

Differing from such methods, many Patents and Utility Models relating to methods for cooling beverages in bottles by attaching a cooling tube filled with a refrigerant to the bottles have been disclosed. Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-65011 discloses "container for beverages and liquors with cooling tube and cooling method using the same", and Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-0264173 discloses, "cap-type cooler". The former uses a method in which a tube is filled with a refrigerant, and the latter uses a method in which a refrigerant is circulated.

These conventional cooling methods have several problems, as follows.

First, the conventional cooling methods require a separate hole formed through a bottle or a new structure for introducing a refrigerant into a tube, and thus require modification of the structure of the conventional bottle, resulting a need for modification of the bottle production line. Accordingly, such methods have low economical efficiency, which makes them impractical.

Second, means of cooling of the conventional cooling methods are not used when the bottle is stored in a refrigerator. Such methods do not use cold air filling the refrigerator, instead they use a separate refrigerant so that a customer carries the bottle with the cooling means. Accordingly, such methods cannot be used at home for they require refilling of the refrigerant, which makes them troublesomeness . Third, the conventional cooling methods require a refrigerant for using conventional cooling tubes or coolers for every single bottle. For example, the cooling methods do not use an ice box, which has conveniently been used for carrying plural bottles, but uses separate cooling containers for every individual the bottle.

Fourth, when a cooling tube circulating a refrigerant by convection is used, the cooling tube may supercool a beverage in a bottle. Since people tend to enjoy beverages maintained at a temperature of 4^°C , the most refrigerating chambers of most refrigerators are set to this temperature. The refrigerator maintains beverages at the desired temperature, but a circulating refrigerant may supercool the beverages. Further, when a cooling tube filled with a refrigerant is used, if the beverage is already maintained in a cooled state, the beverage may be supercooled, and if the beverage is not cold, it is difficult to completely cool the beverage using a small quantity of the refrigerant filling the cooling tube, and, thus, the refrigerant must be replaced with a new one in the course of the cooling of the beverage.

[Disclosure] [Technical Problem]

.Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a bottle cap comprising a heat conduction rod protruded from an upper portion thereof for efficiently transferring heat, an ornamental portion formed on the lower end of the heat conduction rod for increasing the dimensions of a contact surface between the heat conduction rod and a beverage in a bottle, ' and a lid covering the upper portion and made of a material having low heat conductivity for preventing the beverage from being abnormally heated due to the heat conduction rod having high heat conductivity during distribution.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a cooling method in which a bottle cap directly contacts a refrigerant pipe of a refrigerator to increase cooling effects.

[Technical Solution]

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a bottle cap, having an upper portion covering a bottle and a connection plane connected to the bottle, comprising a heat conduction rod made of a heat transferring material, protruded from the lower surface of the upper portion, and partially submerged in a beverage in the bottle, wherein the upper portion is made of a heat transferring material having high heat conductivity, and, when the bottle is cooled, coldness of external cooled air is transmitted to the bottle through the upper portion of the bottle cap and is transmitted to the beverage in the bottle through the heat conduction rod.

Preferably, the bottle cap may further comprise an ornamental portion formed on the lower end of the heat conduction rod for increasing the dimensions of a contact surface between the heat conduction rod and the beverage. The ornamental portion improves cooling effects, and has an advertising effect.

Further, preferably, the bottle cap may further comprise a lid covering the upper portion and made of a heat insulating material having low heat conductivity. The lid prevents the upper portion, made of a metal having high heat conductivity, from being heated when the bottle is carried or displayed at normal temperature, thereby preventing the beverage in the bottle from being heated.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cooling method using the bottle cap, in which bottle-engaging portions having shapes corresponding to those of bottle caps for supportably receiving the bottle caps are formed in a refrigerator along a route of a refrigerant pipe, and the bottle caps are engaged with the bottle-engaging portions so that the upper portions of the bottle caps directly contact the refrigerant pipe to transmit the coldness of the refrigerant pipe to beverages in the bottles through the upper portions and the heat conduction rods of the bottle caps .

[Advantageous Effects]

The bottle cap of the present invention solves problems in cooling beverages caused by conventional bottles for beverages, and reduces costs and effort compared to conventional cooling methods.

The cooling method of the present invention has high efficiency and high heat transfer speed compared to a cooling method using convection of heat, thus reducing costs for cooling a beverage contained in a bottle and rapidly cooling the beverage.

[Description of Drawings]

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating a PET bottle filled with a beverage and sealed by a bottle cap in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the bottle cap of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the bottle cap of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an exploded sectional view of the bottle cap of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the bottle cap of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a bottle cap in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the bottle cap of FIG. 5 having a heat conduction rod with an ornamental portion;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the bottle cap of FIG. 7 covered with a lid made of a material having low heat conductivity; and

FIG. 9 is a sectional view illustrating a structure for cooling a bottle using the bottle cap of the present invention.

[Mode for Invention]

Now, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the annexed drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating a PET bottle 2, which is filled with a beverage 3 and sealed by a bottle cap 1. The PET bottle 2 of FIG. 1 is filled up with the beverage 3. An upper portion 15 of the bottle cap 1 is made of a material having high heat conductivity (for example, metal used as a heat transferring material, such as aluminum), and a heat conduction rod 11, having a length such that the heat conduction rod 11 is partially submerged in the beverage 3, is protruded from the central region of the upper portion 15 toward the inside of the bottle 2.

When the above PET bottle 2 is placed in a refrigerator, there are two cooling routes. The first route is a general route of cooling the beverage 3 through the material of the PET bottle 2 due to contact between the surface of the PET bottle 2 and cold air in the refrigerator, and the second route is a route of cooling the beverage 3 by transmitting coldness through the heat conduction rod 11 due to contact between the surface of the upper portion 15 of the bottle cap 1 and the cold air in the refrigerator. Since the material of the PET bottle 2 has low heat conductivity, the cooling effects using the first cooling route is not high. On the other hand, since the material of the bottle cap 1 has high heat conductivity, the cooling effects using the second cooling route are higher than that using the first cooling route. Further, the coldness transmitted by the second cooling route cools the upper part of the beverage 3 in the PET bottle 2, the cooled part of the beverage 3 descends toward the lower portion of the PET bottle 2 due to convection (in the direction of A of FIG. 1) , and the lower part of the beverage 3 in the PET bottle 2 becomes relatively low density and ascends toward the upper portion of the PET bottle 2 (in the direction of B of FIG. 1) . The above cooling of the beverage 3 using convection is firmly and rapidly carried out.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are, respectively, an exploded perspective view and a normal perspective view of the bottle cap 1 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 4 and 5 are, respectively, an exploded sectional view and a normal sectional view of the bottle cap 1 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a bottle cap 1 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. A side portion 10 of the bottle cap 1 is made of PET, and comprises a screw part, formed on the side surface thereof corresponding to a screw thread formed on the outer surface of a neck of the PET bottle 2, and a hole formed through the central region thereof and having a diameter such that the heat conduction rod 11 passes through the hole. The heat conduction rod 11 is protruded downwardly from the lower surface of the upper portion 15 of the bottle cap 1, and has a length such that the heat conduction rod 11 is partially submerged in the beverage 3. Although the cross section of the heat conduction rod 11 of the bottle cap 1 in accordance with this embodiment of the present invention has a circular shape, the cross section of the heat conduction rod 11 may have various shapes so as to increase the dimensions of a contact surface with the beverage 3 or to enhance esthetic factors. A sealing pad 14, which contacts the upper end of the neck of the PET bottle 2 so as to prevent the beverage 3 from leaking, is attached to the lower surface of the central region of the side portion 10 of the bottle cap 1.

The heat conduction rod 11 and the upper portion 15 are made of the same metal. The heat conduction rod 11 and the upper portion 15, which are made of the metal, and the side portion 10 may be formed by injection molding under the condition that the heat conduction rod 11 and the upper portion 15 are integrated, when the side portion 10 is molded. Otherwise, after the side portion 10 is formed by injection molding such that the hole of the side portion 10 has an inner diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the heat conduction rod 11, the heat conduction rod 11 may be inserted into the hole of the side portion 10 by interference fit. Further, the heat conduction rod 11 and the upper portion 15, which are made of the metal, and the side portion 10 may be formed by injection molding, or the heat conduction rod 11 may be inserted into the hole of the side portion 10 by interference fit, using a groove formed on the highest position of the outer cylindrical surface of the heat conduction rod 11, into which the inner surface of the hole of the side portion 10 is inserted under the condition that the heat conduction rod 11 is inserted into the hole of the side portion 10 and the upper portion 15 contacts the central region of the side portion 10. The connection between the heat conduction rod 11 and the upper portion 15, which are made of the metal, and the side portion 10 may be carried out by conventional means known to those skilled in the art.

As shown in FIG. 5, the heat conduction rod 11 has a solid structure. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, a heat conduction rod 11' has a hollow structure.

The hollow structure facilitates a reduction in material costs, but the solid structure is more simply obtained in a production process. Consequently, the hollow and solid structures are selected under economic circumstances in consideration of the technical level.

The heat conduction rod 11 need not be formed integrally with the upper portion 15. A male screw part (not shown) is formed on the central region of the lower surface of the upper portion 15 and a female screw part (not shown) is formed in the upper portion of the heat conduction rod 11, and the male screw part of the upper portion 15 and the female screw part of the heat conduction rod 11 are engaged with each other. Further, the connection between the heat conduction rod 11 and the upper portion 15 may be carried out by other methods known to those skilled in the art. However, unless the heat conduction rod 11 and the bottle cap 1 are integrally formed, the heat conductivity of the bottle cap 1 may be slightly lowered.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the bottle cap 1 having the heat conduction rod 11 with an ornamental portion 12. In FIG. 7, the ornamental portion 12 is formed on the lower end of the heat conduction rod 11 of the bottle cap 1. The ornamental portion 12 is made of the same material as that of the heat conduction rod 11. The ornamental portion 12 may be formed integrally with the heat conduction rod 11 or be simply inserted into the lower end of the heat conduction rod 11 by screw structures. The above ornamental portion 12 increases the dimensions of the contact area of the heat conduction rod 11 with the beverage so as to rapidly cool the beverage, represents a logo or a trademark of a company so as to provide advertising benefits, or represents a character so as to increase marketability. The ornamental portion 12 has a strong possibility of developing to a design.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the bottle cap 1 covered with a lid 13 made of a material having low heat conductivity (for example, synthetic resin generally used as a heat insulating material, such as plastic) . The beverage 3 contained in the PET bottle 2 using the bottle cap 1 provided with the above-described heat conduction rod 11 can be rapidly cooled in a refrigerator. On the other hand, when the PET bottle 2 is taken out of the refrigerator, cool air is rapidly emitted from the PET bottle 2 through the heat conduction rod 11. In order to prevent the above rapid heat emission, the upper surface of the bottle cap 1 of the present invention is covered with the lid 13 for hindering the heat transfer, as shown in FIG. 8. Preferably, the bottle cap 13 is made of a material having low heat conductivity (for example, Compressed Styrofoam having high insulting ability) . When the cooled beverage 3 contained in the PET bottle 2 with the bottle cap 1, which is covered with the lid 13, is exposed to room temperature, the lid 13 lowers the heat conduction rate through the bottle cap 1, thereby preventing coldness from being emitted from the bottle cap 1. Therefore, the lid 13 serves to prevent the upper portion 15, made of metal having high heat conductivity, from being heated at distribution and display processes of products at room temperature, thereby preventing the beverage 3 contained in the PET bottle 2 from being abnormally heated.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view illustrating a structure for cooling a bottle using the bottle cap of the present invention. The structure of FIG. 9 illustrates a method for rapidly cooling the beverage 3, which is not in the cold state, using the above-described bottle cap 1. FIG. 9 illustrates a transversal sectional view of a refrigerator 4. A cooler 43 is installed on the rear surface of the refrigerator 4, and serves to cool air in the refrigerator 4 using a refrigerant. As shown in FIG. 9, a plurality of bottle-engaging portions 42, which serve as direct routes connected to the cooler 43 and have a shape corresponding to that of the opening of the bottle with the bottle cap 1, are formed in the rear surface of the refrigerator 4 opposite to a door 41. The bottle-engaging portions 42 are located along a route of a refrigerant pipe 44. Methods for engaging the bottle with the bottle-engaging portion 42 are not limited, and are known to those skilled in the art. For example, one method is that the diameter of the inner cylindrical surface of the bottle-engaging portion 42 is the same as the outer diameter of the bottle cap 1 of the bottle so that the bottle cap 1 is fitted into the bottle- engaging portion 42, as shown in FIG. 9, and another method is that a screw part, corresponding to a screw formed on the outer surface of the bottle cap 1, is formed on the inner surface of the bottle-engaging portion 42 so that the bottle cap 1 is turned and inserted into the bottle- engaging portion 42. Although the embodiment of the present invention illustrates two bottle-engaging portions 42, the number of the bottle-engaging portions 42 is not limited.

When the opening of the PET bottle 2 sealed by the bottle cap 1 is engaged with the bottle-engaging portion 42 as shown in FIG. 9 so that the upper portion of the bottle cap 1 directly contacts the refrigerant pipe 44 of the cooler 43, heat transfer between the refrigerant pipe 44 and the upper portion of the bottle cap 1 occurs due to conduction of heat. Since the heat transfer due to the conduction of heat has high heat exchange speed, the cooling of the beverage 3 using the conduction is more rapid than the cooling of the beverage 3 using cold air in the refrigerator 4 (namely, the heat transfer due to convection of heat) .

As apparent from the above description, the present invention provides a bottle cap, which solves problems in cooling beverages caused by conventional bottles for beverages, and reduces costs and effort compared to conventional cooling methods.

Further, the present invention provides a cooling method using the bottle cap employing conduction of heat, in which bottle-engaging portions are formed in a refrigerator and a refrigerant pipe passes by the bottle- engaging portions such that the bottle-engaging portions directly contact upper heat conduction surfaces of bottle caps. The cooling method of the present invention has high efficiency and high heat transfer speed compared to a cooling method using convection of heat, thus reducing costs for cooling a beverage contained in a bottle and rapidly cooling the beverage. [industrial Applicability]

The bottle cap and the cooling method using the same will be used in a bottle cap and PET bottle production field and a beverage production and distribution field.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

[CLAIMS]

[Claim l] A bottle cap, having an upper portion covering a bottle and a connection plane connected to the bottle, comprising a heat conduction rod made of a heat transferring material, protruded from the lower surface of the upper portion, and partially submerged in a beverage in the bottle, wherein the upper portion is made of a heat transferring material having high heat conductivity, and, when the bottle is cooled, coldness of external cooled air is transmitted to the bottle through the upper portion of the bottle cap and is transmitted to the beverage in the bottle through the heat conduction rod.

[Claim 2] The bottle cap as set forth in claim 1, further comprising an ornamental portion formed on the lower end of the heat conduction rod for increasing the dimensions of a contact surface between the heat conduction rod and the beverage.

[Claim 3] The bottle cap as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a lid covering the upper portion and made of a heat insulating material having low heat conductivity.

[Claim 4] A cooling method using the bottle cap as set forth in claim 1 or 2, in which bottle-engaging portions having shapes corresponding to those of bottle caps for supportably receiving the bottle caps are formed in a refrigerator along a route of a refrigerant pipe, and the bottle caps are engaged with the bottle-engaging portions so that the upper portions of the bottle caps directly contact the refrigerant pipe to transmit the coldness of the refrigerant pipe to the beverages in the bottles through the upper portions and the heat conduction rods of the bottle caps .