WO2017101957A1

WO2017101957A1 - Apparatus for and method of chilling or heating a beverage

Info

Publication number: WO2017101957A1
Application number: PCT/DK2016/050446
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kenneth Holck JAKOBSEN; Anders BRUUS; Max Tomas LUNDBERG; Per BERGELIN
Original assignee: Grad Aps
Priority date: 2015-12-18
Filing date: 2016-12-19
Publication date: 2017-06-22
Also published as: US20170176096A1; EP3390935A4; EP3390935B1; EP3390935A1

Abstract

An apparatus for chilling or heating a fluid comprises a preparation surface (90) and a heat-transferring unit (100) positioned beneath the preparation surface and in thermal communication with the preparation surface. The heat transferring unit comprises a first thermally conductive layer (110), a second thermally conductive layer (130) and a thermoelectric element (120) arranged between and in thermal communication with the thermally conductive layers. The preparation surface is adapted to receive a thermally conductive bottom portion of a vessel (50) such that said bottom portion is in thermal communication with the heat-transferring unit when the bottom portion is placed on the preparation surface. The apparatus further comprises a vessel presence sensor to detect the presence of a vessel on the preparation surface. In this way, an apparatus is provided that can chill or heat an amount of beverage in a vessel rapidly to a very cold or hot serving temperature.

Description

APPARATUS FOR AND METHOD OF CHILLING OR HEATING A BEVERAGE

Technical Field

The invention relates to an apparatus for chilling or heating a fluid, to a system comprising an apparatus for chilling or heating a fluid and at least one vessel, and to a method of chilling or heating a beverage.

Background

There are circumstances were it would be advantageous to be able to chill or heat a fluid quickly. For example, in a commercial establishment selling beverages it would be extremely useful to be able to rapidly cooling small volumes of the beverage to a very cold temperature relatively quickly. This would permit the establishment to serve "frozen shots" or larger volumes of chilled beverages rapidly and on demand. A device for effecting such rapid cooling is, however, difficult to implement in practice because of the amount of time it takes using conventional methods to simultaneously cool both the vessel and the beverage within the vessel down to a very cold temperature, e.g., at or near the freezing point of water. Similarly, it is difficult to implement a device for effecting rapid heating of small volumes of a beverage to be served as a hot drink.

US 2006/0005548 discloses a countertop thermoelectric assembly having a countertop forming a food preparation surface at its upper side and a Peltier effect device located below the countertop. The thermoelectric unit can be operated to cool and/or warm the food preparation surface, and a temperature sensor can provide signals representative of a temperature of the countertop. However, due to its intended use, the preparation surface of this assembly is relatively large in area, and accordingly the cold and warm temper- atures it can provide are moderate and thus insufficient to achieve a rapid chilling or heating of a beverage to be served in a vessel at very cold or hot temperatures. Summary

Therefore, it is an object of embodiments of the invention to provide an apparatus that can chill or heat an amount of beverage in a vessel rapidly to a very cold or hot serving temperature.

According to embodiments of the invention the object is achieved in an apparatus for chilling or heating a fluid, the apparatus comprising at least one preparation surface and a heat transferring unit positioned beneath the preparation surface to be in thermal communication with the preparation surface, the heat transferring unit comprising a first thermally conductive layer, a second thermally conductive layer and a thermoelectric element arranged between and in thermal communication with the first and second thermally conductive layers. The object is achieved when the preparation surface is adapted to receive a thermally conductive bottom portion of a vessel such that said bottom portion is in thermal communication with the heat transferring unit when the bottom portion is placed on the preparation surface; and that the apparatus further comprises a vessel presence sensor configured to detect the presence of a vessel on the preparation surface. By adapting the preparation surface of the chilling or heating apparatus to receive the thermally conductive bottom portion of a vessel, in which a chilled or heated beverage can be served, it is achieved that the cooling or heating effect provided by the thermoelectric element can be concentrated to the vessel instead of being distributed to a larger food preparation area. The vessel presence sensor allows the thermoelectric element to be switched off when no vessel is present on the preparation surface, thus reducing the risk of dangerous situations due to the very cold or hot preparation surface.

In an embodiment, the vessel presence sensor is an inductive sensor. This is an expedient type of sensor when the vessel is at least partly metallic, which will often be the case due to the good thermal conductivity of metal. The inductive sensor may comprise a plurality of coils arranged in the immediate vicinity of the preparation surface. The apparatus may further comprise a temperature sensor, which can be configured to detect the temperature of the preparation surface or the temperature of a vessel placed on the preparation surface. Temperature infor- mation provided by the temperature sensor can be indicated to a user, or it can be used for controlling the thermoelectric element.

The apparatus may further comprise a control system configured to control the function of the thermoelectric element in dependence of at least one of said vessel presence sensor and said temperature sensor. This allows that the cooling or heating effect of the thermoelectric element can be adapted to the actual situation, i.e. whether a vessel is present and/or what the actual temperature of the vessel or the preparation surface is. In an embodiment, the control system is configured to modify an output signal of said vessel presence sensor in dependence of said temperature sensor. This allows a more stable sensitivity of the vessel presence sensor in embodiments using inductive vessel presence sensors, since the output signal from this type of sensor may be temperature dependent.

The control system may be configured to activate the thermoelectric element, when the vessel presence sensor indicates that a vessel is being placed on the preparation surface. This allows that the heating of cooling process can be started immediately when a vessel is being placed on the preparation sur- face instead of waiting for a manual activation of the thermoelectric element.

The control system may also be configured to prevent the thermoelectric element from being active when the vessel presence sensor indicates that no vessel is placed on the preparation surface. This could conserve energy and reduce the risk of dangerous situations if the preparation surface should be touched by e.g. a finger while the thermoelectric element is actively cooling or heating the preparation surface. The control system may be configured to control the thermoelectric element to maintain the preparation surface at a standby temperature, such as 2°C, when the vessel presence sensor indicates that no vessel is placed on the preparation surface. In this way, the chilling or heating time of the vessel can be reduced, because the preparation surface is already pre-chilled or preheated when a vessel is placed thereon.

The control system may also be configured to control the thermoelectric element to maintain the preparation surface at an operational temperature, such as -15°C, when the vessel presence sensor indicates that a vessel is placed on the preparation surface. In this way, the vessel is ready for beverage to be added to the vessel.

In an embodiment, the apparatus further comprises a physical condition sen- sor configured to detect the presence of a foreign object on or in the immediate vicinity of the preparation surface, and that the control system is configured to shut down the thermoelectric element if the physical condition sensor indicates the presence of a foreign object. By shutting down the thermoelectric element when a foreign object, such as a finger, is detected near the preparation surface, the risk of freezing or burning the object is reduced.

In an embodiment, the thermoelectric element is specified to maintain a temperature differential of at least 80 °C between its hot side and its cold side when a hot side temperature of the thermoelectric element is in the range of about 25 °C to about 35 °C. This allows for a sufficiently rapid heating or cooling of the beverage in the vessel. Similarly, the thermoelectric element may be specified to have a heat transport capacity of at least 50 watts. The thermoelectric element may be a two-stage Peltier element. The preparation surface may have a size corresponding to the size of a bottom portion of a vessel usually used to hold a drinkable fluid. This reduces waste of energy, because cooling or heating can be concentrated to the vessel. A thermally conductive plate comprising the preparation surface may be in thermal communication with the first thermally conductive layer, or the first thermally conductive layer may comprise the preparation surface.

In some embodiments, the second thermally conductive layer is in thermal communication with a heat sink, or the second thermally conductive layer may comprise a heat sink. In other embodiments, the second thermally conductive layer is in thermal communication with a pump module of a liquid- based heat dispersal system further comprising a heat exchanger assembly connected to the pump module through tubing. In further embodiments, the second thermally conductive layer is in thermal communication with an evaporator side of a vapor chamber, or the second thermally conductive layer may constitute an evaporator side of a vapor chamber. These are expedient embodiments of exchanging heat between the thermoelectric element and the surroundings. The apparatus further may comprise a fan assembly arranged to provide a forced airflow around the heat sink, heat exchanger or vapor chamber.

A system for chilling or heating a fluid may comprise an apparatus as described above and at least one vessel having a thermally conductive bottom portion adapted to be received by the preparation surface of the apparatus, such that at least the bottom portion is in thermal communication with the heat transferring unit when the bottom portion is placed on the preparation surface. The vessel may be made of a material having a specific heat capacity in the range of about 0.2 J/g °C to about 4 J/g °C, and in some embodi- ments, the vessel comprises aluminium, copper or gold.

The thermally conductive bottom portion of the vessel may be provided with a coating adapted to prevent the vessel from freezing to the preparation surface of the apparatus. This is an expedient way of avoiding such freezing.

As mentioned, the invention further relates to a method of chilling or heating a beverage, the method comprising the steps of adding only the amount of beverage to be chilled or heated to a vessel having a thermally conductive bottom portion adapted to be received by a preparation surface of an apparatus for chilling or heating a fluid and further comprising a thermoelectric element; and controlling the thermoelectric element to chill or heat the amount of fluid added to the vessel when the vessel is placed in thermal communication with the preparation surface of the apparatus.

By chilling or heating only the required amount of beverage in a thermally conductive vessel, e.g. when ordered by a customer in a bar, a rapid chilling or heating can be achieved, and energy is not wasted in chilling or heating a larger amount of beverage, e.g. a full bottle, and keeping it cool or hot until a drink is ordered.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises the steps of placing the vessel in thermal communication with the preparation surface of the appa- ratus; controlling the thermoelectric element to cool or heat the vessel to an operational temperature in a first cooling or heating step; adding the amount of beverage to the vessel while the vessel remains in thermal communication with the preparation surface; and cooling or heating the amount of beverage to a serving temperature by transfer of heat between the beverage and the vessel in a second cooling or heating step.

In another embodiment, the method further comprises the steps of adding the amount of beverage to the vessel before placing the vessel on the preparation surface of the apparatus; placing the vessel with the amount of beverage in thermal communication with the preparation surface of the apparatus; and controlling the thermoelectric element to cool or heat the vessel and the amount of beverage to a serving temperature.

The method may further comprise the step of controlling the thermoelectric element to cool or heat the preparation surface of the apparatus to a standby temperature before placing the vessel on the preparation surface. In this way, the chilling or heating time of the vessel can be reduced, because the prepa- ration surface is already pre-chilled or preheated when a vessel is placed thereon.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Embodiments of the invention will now be described more fully below with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout, and in which

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a beverage chilling system according to one embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 shows an exploded view of the beverage chilling system of Figure 1 showing internal components of one embodiment of the invention; Figure 3 shows a plan view of the beverage chilling system of Figure 1 ;

Figure 4 shows a partially cutaway view of the beverage chilling system of Figure 3 taken a long line A-A of Figure 3; Figure 5 shows a close-up away view of a portion of the embodiment depicted in Figure 3;

Figure 6 shows a close-up away view of an alternative embodiment for the arrangement depicted in Figure 3;

Figure 7 shows a perspective view of a beverage chilling system according to another embodiment of the invention;

Figure 8 shows an exploded view of the beverage chilling system of Figure 7 showing an arrangement for internal components;

Figures 9a, 9b and 9c are views of an embodiment of a pedestal-shaped thermally conductive plate for use with the embodiment of Figure 7; Figures 10a and 10b are views of a printed circuit board (PCB) assembly for use with the embodiment of Figure 7; Figures 1 1 a and 1 1 b show the printed circuit board of Figures 10a and 10b together with other components separate and assembled to a unit, respectively;

Figure 12 shows a view of a vessel placed on the unit of Figure 1 1 b;

Figure 13 shows a slightly different embodiment of the unit of Figure 1 1 b;

Figure 14 shows an exploded view of an embodiment of the beverage chilling system using a heat sink;

Figure 15 shows a functional block diagram for components of the beverage chilling system of Figure 1 or Figure 7;

Figure 16 shows a diagram of a possible control panel for the beverage chilling system of Figure 1 or Figure 7;

Figure 17 shows a cutaway view of a vessel such as could be used in conjunction with the beverage chilling system of Figure 1 or Figure 7; Figure 18 shows an additional view of a vessel and a cooling arrangement;

Figure 19 shows a cutaway view of another vessel such as could be used in conjunction with the beverage chilling system of Figure 1 or Figure 7; Figure 20 shows a flowchart showing a method according to an aspect of the present invention; Figure 21 shows a diagram showing the breakdown of a serving cycle according to an aspect of the present invention;

Figure 22 is a graph showing dependence of time to achieve a serving tem- perature on vessel mass and initial temperature; and

Figure 23 is a graph showing dependence of time to achieve an operational temperature on vessel mass. Detailed Description

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to promote a thorough understanding of one or more embodiments. It may be evident in some or all instances, however, that any embodiment described below can be practiced without adopting the specific design details described below. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate description of one or more embodiments.

With initial reference to Figure 1 , there is shown a perspective view of a sys- tern 10 for chilling or heating a beverage according to an embodiment of the invention. The system 10 includes a base plate 20 and a cover 30 connected to the base plate 20, which houses a refrigeration or heating apparatus described more fully below. As used here and elsewhere in this specification, the phrase "connected to" is intended to mean that there is a mechanical connection between two elements so that movement of one is at least partially physically constrained with respect to the other, either directly or through intermediate elements. In the following, the system 10 shown in Figure 1 is described as a beverage chilling system, but as mentioned, the system can just as well be used as a beverage heating system, which will be described later.

The cover 30 includes at least one preparation surface or cooling station 90 arranged to prepare, i.e. chill or heat, an amount of beverage in a vessel 50. In the embodiment of Figure 1 , the cooling station is in the form of a receptacle aperture 40. In the arrangement shown in Figure 1 there are four receptacle apertures 40 arranged in a line. It will be readily appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, however, that any number of receptacle apertures 40 can be used and that other arrangements can be used. Each of the receptacle apertures 40 is dimensioned to receive a vessel 50, which will be described in more detail below. In the embodiment shown, the receptacle apertures 40 are all the same size, but it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that this is not necessary and that the receptacle apertures 40 could be of various sizes. As described more fully below, the preparation surface or cooling station 90 need not be arranged below the surface of the cover 30 but can instead be flush with the top surface of the cover 30 or may even protrude above the top surface of the cover 30. Also as shown in Figure 1 , the beverage chilling system 10 may include one or more status indicators 60, which may be LEDs which provide information indicative of the status of an associated one or of more than one of the cooling stations 90 or of the overall beverage chilling system 10. Status may include the temperature of the cooling stations 90 or of a vessel 50 received by the cooling station 90, or whether there is an object other than a vessel 50 in the receptacle aperture 40 as described more fully below. The beverage chilling system 10 may also include a user interface 70, an on/off switch 80, and one or more vents 55 for venting hot exhaust air. The cover 30 may be made of an insulating material and provided with an easy-to-clean and aesthetically pleasing surface treatment. An insulating material could prevent users from injuring themselves from the extreme cold and also make the unit more convenient to handle. The cover 30 may be dimensioned so that the overall beverage chilling system 10 can have a rela- tively compact footprint. For example, the beverage chilling system 10 can be about 10 cm tall, about 50 cm wide, and about 30 cm deep, but other dimensions and aspect ratios are possible. Figure 2 is a partially exploded perspective view of an arrangement of components with the cover 30 removed. As can be seen, underlying each receptacle aperture 40 (see Figure 1 ) there is a heat transferring unit 100, in this case a cooling module, made up a first thermally conductive layer 1 10, a second thermally conductive layer 130, and a thermoelectric element 120 (cooling element) sandwiched between them. In Figure 2, the first and second thermally conductive layers are shown as a first thermally conductive plate 1 10 and a second thermally conductive plate 130, which may be made of a metallic material such as copper. However, the first and second thermal- ly conductive layers may also be implemented with a thermal interface material, such as a thermally conducting paste that ensures good thermal contact between the cooling element 120 and other thermally conductive components, as it will be described later. In the embodiment shown, the base of the vessel 50 rests directly on top of first thermally conductive plate 1 10, but it will be readily understood that additional thermally conductive elements may be interposed between the base of the vessel 50 and the top of first thermally conductive plate 1 10.

In an embodiment, the cooling element 120 is a thermoelectric element such as a Peltier element. Because of the thermal loads imposed by relatively rapid chilling of the vessel 50, which typically exceed those imposed by conventional applications, a two-stage Peltier element can be used. One measure of the refrigerating capacity of a thermoelectric element is ΔΤ, which is a measure of the temperature differential the thermoelectric element can main- tain between its hot side and its cold side at a given temperature for the hot side. As an example, a thermoelectric element can be used, which has a ΔΤ in the range of about 80 °C to about 90 °C when the hot side temperature of the thermoelectric element is in the range of about 25 °C to about 35 °C. A thermoelectric element meeting these criteria is a Model FPK2-19808NC el- ement from Qinhuangdao Fulianjing Electronic Co Ltd., but it will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that other devices can be used as cooling elements 120. Another figure of merit for an implementation of the cooling element 120 is its efficiency and how much heat it can transport. A preferred cooling rate is more than about 20 Watts, and more preferably more than about 35 Watts, and most preferably more than 50 Watts.

The Model FPK2-19808NC mentioned above is rated to be able to transport approximately 50 Watts per element at 12 V and 6 Amps. The cooling efficiency of such an element is 50 Watts / (12 V ^* 6 Amps) = 0.7. Choosing an element with lower heat transportation capabilities would result in a longer cooling time. Choosing an element with lower efficiency would increase the power consumption of the system.

When the vessel 50 is placed in the receptacle aperture 40 (see Figure 1 ), the base of the vessel 50 will come into thermal communication (e.g., con- tact) with and rest on the top of the first thermally conductive plate 1 10 (or, equivalently, a thermally conductive element or elements in thermal communication with the first conductive plate 1 10). The first thermally conductive plate 1 10 acts as a thermal transfer element, which draws heat from the bottom of a vessel 50 placed in the receptacle aperture 40. The first thermally conductive plate 1 10 is in turn in thermal communication with the cooling element 120. As used here and elsewhere in this specification, the phrase "thermal communication" is intended to mean that there is a path through thermally conductive elements along which heat can flow. The embodiment of Figure 2 includes one cooling element 120 for each receptacle aperture 40 (shown in Figure 1 ). One of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate, however, that any suitable number of cooling elements 120 may be used and that any suitable number of cooling elements 120 and thermally conductive plates 1 10 and 130 may be used. The cooling elements 120 can be supplied with power through a power cord 140. The power cord 140 is connected to an external power supply 150. It is preferred to position the power supply 150 away from the other components of the beverage chilling system 10 so that heat generated by the power sup- ply 150 does not contribute to the heat load imposed upon the cooling elements 120. However, it may also be possible to place the power supply 150 inside the cover 30. Also shown in Figure 2 is an electronics module 160, which houses the electronic components for the displays and control systems described more fully below.

The embodiment of Figure 2 also includes a system for dispersing the heat produced by the cooling elements 120. In the shown embodiment, a liquid- based heat dispersal system is used, but one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that an air-based system or a compressor driven refrigerant system could be used as well. In the embodiment shown in Figure 2, the heat dispersal system includes a pump module 170 located at the base of the cooling module 100 adjacent to the bottom surface of the second thermally conductive plate 130. Each pump module 170 is connected to a heat ex- changer or radiator assembly 180 through tubing 190. The radiator assemblies 180 are in turn cooled by forced air from a fan assembly 200.

Figure 3 is the top plan view of the embodiment of Figure 1 and shows possible relative positions of the receptacle aperture 40, vessel 50, status indica- tors 60, and user interface 70.

Figure 4 is a cut away view of the embodiment of Figure 3 taken along line A- A of Figure 3. Figure 4 shows a possible arrangement for the vessel 50 in the receptacle aperture 40 so that the vessel 50 rests on top of first thermally conductive plate 1 10. Also, it is possible that during operation some fluid could spill into the receptacle aperture 40 or that condensation on the vessel 50 or in the receptacle aperture 40 could introduce fluid into the receptacle aperture 40. To prevent this fluid from reaching the internal components of the beverage chilling system 10, a seal 220 is interposed between the recep- tacle aperture 40 and the interior of beverage chilling system 10.

This seal 220 is shown more fully in Figure 5, which shows an annular seal 220. The seal 220 may be comprised of any material or combination of ma- terials that will create a fluid seal at low temperatures between the cover 30 and the first conductive plate 1 10. For example, the seal 220 can be made as an annular piece of translucent silicone rubber pressed between the first conductive plate 1 10 and the cover 30. This arrangement has the advantage that the seal 220 can act as a light guide to disperse light from an LED 210 disposed in the aperture 40.

At or near the receptacle aperture 40 there is provided a sensor package 230. In this context, "near" means sufficiently proximate that the sensors in the sensor package 230 can detect conditions in the receptacle aperture 40 as well as in a vessel 50 placed in receptacle aperture 40. The sensor package 230 includes one or more vessel presence sensors, i.e. proximity sensors for detecting the presence of a vessel 50 in the receptacle aperture 40. The proximity sensors may be implemented as inductive sensors and will be described in further detail below. The sensor package 230 may be supplied with a temperature sensor, which detects the temperature of the vessel 50 when it is in the receptacle aperture 40. The temperature sensor may also detect the temperature of the receptacle aperture 40. Figure 6 shows an alternative embodiment in which the vessel 50 is made up of two parts, a top part 50a and a bottom part 50b. The bottom part 50b is dimensioned and configured to fit in receptacle aperture 40 and project above the top of cover 30. In the embodiment shown, the bottom part 50b is cylindrical. The bottom part 50b is preferably made of a thermally conductive material, and preferably the same material as the top part 50a. In use, the bottom part 50b is placed in receptacle aperture 40 and the top part 50a is placed on top of the bottom part 50b as shown. The combination of the bottom part 50b and the top part 50a are then cooled to an initial operational temperature. Alternatively, the bottom part 50b can be cooled to an initial operational temperature and then the top part 50a can be placed on top of the bottom part 50b. Once the combination reaches the initial operational temperature then beverage can be added to the top part 50a. As an alternative, once the combination reaches the operational temperature, the combi- nation can be removed from the receptacle aperture 40 and placed on a flat surface, at which point the beverage is then added to the top part 50a.

As mentioned, the embodiment described above includes a ventilation sys- tern to remove waste heat generated by the cooling elements 120. As described, this ventilation system may include a radiator assembly 180 and a fan assembly 200 forcing air past the radiator assembly 180 and outside of the cover 30. For this purpose the cover 30 may be provided with a series of vents 55 as shown in Figure 1 . The vents 55 are positioned and configured to blow the warm air away from a user or other persons in proximity to the beverage chilling system 10 such as patrons.

As mentioned, in high humidity environments it is possible that condensation can occur within the aperture 40 as well as on a vessel 50 placed within the aperture 40. It is preferable that liquid water produced by this condensation not be permitted to collect at a position where it could freeze and obstruct the aperture 40 or cause damage to internal components. Therefore, in such circumstances, there can be provided a means for the water produced by condensation to drain away from the base of the aperture 40 and be collect- ed elsewhere.

Also as mentioned, the receptacle aperture 40 may be provided with a temperature sensor. It is also possible to provide the vessel 50 with a temperature sensor, which may be a small sensor/display combination. The vessel- mounted sensor could also include thermochromic paint or one or more pieces of thermochromic plastic that change colour depending on their temperature.

Figure 7 shows another possible embodiment of a system 15 for chilling or heating a beverage according to this disclosure. Similarly to the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2, this embodiment is described in the following as a beverage chilling system, but as mentioned, the system can just as well be used as a beverage heating system, which will be described later. Details for the embodiment of Figure 7 are in essence the same as those for the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2 except as follows. In the embodiment of Figure 7, the cover 30 has four receptacle apertures 40, but in this embodi- ment, each aperture 40 receives a pedestal-shaped thermally conductive plate 1 1 1 as descried more fully below with reference to Figure 8. The pedestal-shaped thermally conductive plate 1 1 1 has a cylindrical projection upwards through the aperture 40 so that a top exposed preparation surface 1 15 of the cold plate is essentially flush with the top surface of the cover 30. The vessel 50 is then placed on the top exposed preparation surface 1 15 of the thermally conductive plate 1 1 1 . As it can be seen from the figure, the top exposed surface of the cold plate may be surrounded by a light guide that can be used as a status indicator providing information indicative of the status of the associated cooling station. The components of the beverage chilling system 15 are supported by a base plate 20 preferably formed of a single piece of a bent metallic material such as steel.

Figure 8 is a partially exploded perspective view of an arrangement of the components for one of the cooling or heating stations of the system of Figure 7. As in the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2, a thermoelectric element 120 is sandwiched between a first thermally conductive layer 1 10 and a second thermally conductive layer 130. The thermoelectric element 120 can typically be a two-stage Peltier element as the one that was described above. The thermoelectric element 120 is supplied with power from a not shown power supply. The first thermally conductive layer 1 10, which can be implemented with a thermal interface material, such as a thermally conducting paste, ensures good thermal contact between the thermoelectric element 120 and the pedestal-shaped thermally conductive plate 1 1 1 . A thermally insulating layer 620 is arranged between the pedestal-shaped thermally conductive plate 1 1 1 and a printed circuit board (PCB) assembly 600, which will be described more fully below, having a central aperture through which the cylindrical projection of the pedestal-shaped thermally conductive plate 1 1 1 projects. PCB assembly 600 is provided with a ring formed light guide 630 and sensors as described more fully below.

The embodiment of Figure 8 is air-cooled. The thermoelectric element 120 is in thermal contact with a heat sink vapor chamber 670 via the second thermally conductive layer 130, which can be implemented with a thermal interface material, such as a thermally conducting paste. There may be one vapor chamber for each cooling element or the cooling elements may share one or more vapor chambers. As an example, the system 15 may have two vapor chambers, each of which is in thermal contact with a respective pair of cooling elements. A vapor chamber is a known two-phase heat-spreading device. It contains a coolant that changes phase as it is heated. The vaporized coolant flows through the chamber and condenses on cold surfaces, dissipates its heat load, and is channelled back to a coolant reservoir. Vapor chambers provide thermal performance that is far superior to that achievable with traditional solid metal heat spreaders at reduced weight and height. They can be placed in direct contact with the heat source and enable more uniform heat spreading in all directions. The vapor chamber 670 is in turn cooled by forced air from a fan 680 arranged below the vapor chamber 670.

An embodiment of a pedestal-shaped thermally conductive plate 1 1 1 for use with the embodiment of Figures 7 and 8 is shown in Figures 9a, 9b and 9c. As shown, it includes a cylindrical projection 1 12 and a base plate 1 14. The cylindrical projection 1 12 is intended to project upwards through the aperture 40 so that the upper circular preparation surface 1 15 of the cylindrical projection 1 12 is substantially flush with an upper surface of the cover 30.

To illustrate the arrangement of the light guide 630 and the different sensors on the printed circuit board 600, Figures 10a and 1 0b show the board in fur- ther detail. Figure 10a is a top view of the board, and Figure 10b is a cross sectional view taken along the line B-B on Figure 1 0a. The PCB 600 has a central aperture 610 through which the cylindrical projection 1 12 of pedestal- shaped thermally conductive plate 1 1 1 projects. The ring formed light guide member 630, which is arranged on the board 600 around the central aperture 610, is made of a material that can transmit or conduct light, and it can relay light from light emitting diodes 690 to provide a visual indication of cooling station status as described more fully below. In this embodiment, four light emitting diodes 690 are placed around the periphery of the ring formed light guide 630.

Integrated into the light guide 630 is a temperature sensor 240 intended to measure the temperature of a vessel 50 placed on the top of the pedestal- shaped thermally conductive plate 1 1 1 , or the temperature of the pedestal- shaped thermally conductive plate 1 1 1 itself. The temperature sensor can be placed inside the light guide to improve its sensitivity and protect the temperature sensor from water condensation.

The PCB 600 of Figures 10a and 10b also includes one or more sensors 650 for detecting the presence of a vessel 50. The sensors 650 function as a proximity sensor, and they can be implemented as inductive sensors. In the shown embodiment, the sensor comprises four coils 650 arranged in the light guide 630 close to the pedestal-shaped thermally conductive plate 1 1 1 . It is noted that although the vessel presence sensors 650 can advantageously be implemented as inductive sensors, several other implementations are possible. As examples of other sensor types that can be used for this purpose, the following can be mentioned: capacitive sensor, load cell, infrared sensor, mechanical contact, ultrasound sensor, RFID sensor, Hall Effect sensor, Time Of Flight (TOF) sensor, image sensor, temperature change sensor and resistance sensor.

The PCB 600 may also include one or more reference sensors which can be used to measure a background signal which can be subtracted from the sig- nal from the sensors 650 as noise, thus making the measurement by sensors 650 more robust. Further, a liquid proof ring may surround the central aperture 610 and seal the assembly from moisture, which would otherwise be introduced through the aperture 40. The material for the liquid proof ring should have a thermal coefficient of expansion, which is selected to ensure that the ring maintains a liquid proof seal at anticipated operating temperatures.

Figure 1 1 a illustrates how the printed circuit board 600 with the light guide 630 and the different sensors is placed in the aperture 40 of the cover 30 together with the pedestal-shaped thermally conductive plate 1 1 1 and the thermally insulating layer 620. In Figure 1 1 b, the components have been assembled, and it can be seen that the top exposed preparation surface 1 15 of the pedestal-shaped thermally conductive plate 1 1 1 is essentially flush with the top surface of the cover 30.

Figure 12 shows a vessel 50 placed on the top exposed surface 1 15 of the pedestal-shaped thermally conductive plate 1 1 1 , so that the vessel 50 can be cooled or heated due to its thermal contact with the thermally conductive plate 1 1 1 , which in turn is cooled or heated by the thermoelectric element 120 placed underneath, as it will be described in further detail below. Typically, the vessel 50 is at least in part metallic, and the inductive sensors 650 arranged close to the thermally conductive plate 1 1 1 can therefore detect its presence. As described below, this information is used for controlling the temperature of the vessel. If the vessel 50 is not of metal, it can be provided with a metallic coating that ensures that its presence can be detected by the inductive sensors 650.

Figure 13 shows a slightly different embodiment, in which the top exposed preparation surface 1 15 of the pedestal-shaped thermally conductive plate 1 1 1 is not exactly flush with the top surface of the cover 30. Instead, it has been slightly raised to a level e.g. 0.3 mm above the cover. In this way, it is still substantially flush with the top surface of the cover 30, but water on the top surface is allowed to drain away from the thermally conductive plate 1 1 1 . In dependence of the amount of cooling required, a conventional heat sink may be used instead of the vapor chamber 670 that was described in relation to Figure 8. An embodiment using a conventional heat sink 690 is shown in Figure 14. The remaining components are identical to those of Figure 8.

The various sensors described above in relation to the beverage chilling system 10 or 15 make up part of an overall control system 280 that also includes a CPU 270. One possible arrangement for such a control system is shown in Figure 15, which is a functional block diagram. The control system 280 can be used with any one of the embodiments described above. The control system 280 includes the CPU 270 and an I/O interface 290. The I/O interface is connected to one or more switches, sensors, displays, communication systems, and controllers. For example, the physical on/off switch 80 may be connected to the I/O interface 290.

The vessel/receptacle temperature sensor 240 and the vessel presence sensor 650 described above are both connected to the I/O interface 290.

The system may also be supplied with a physical condition sensor 250 that can detect when a foreign object such as a finger has been inserted into the receptacle aperture 40 or placed on the thermally conductive plate 1 10 or 1 1 1 . The physical condition sensor 250 is configured to discriminate between the vessel 50 and a foreign object, such as a finger. If a foreign object is detected in a receptacle aperture 40, the cooling element 120 associated with that receptacle aperture 40 may be shut down until the physical condition sensor 250 detects that the foreign object is no longer present. The physical condition sensor 250 can also be configured to detect when there is an excess amount of liquid either in the receptacle aperture 40 or in a vessel 50 in the receptacle aperture 40. If an excess fluid volume condition is de- tected, the cooling element 120 associated with that receptacle temperature 40 may be shut down until the physical condition sensor 250 detects that the excess fluid volume condition has been corrected. In some embodiments, the physical condition sensor 250 may be combined with the proximity sensor for detecting the presence of a vessel 50 in the receptacle aperture 40. The physical condition sensor 250 may also be connected to the I/O interface 290. The system may also include a system status sensor 260 for detecting when the overall temperature of the beverage chilling system 10 or 15 falls outside of a predetermined range (too high or too low) and can trigger the CPU 270 to run a diagnostic routine or cause the beverage chilling system to shut down. The system status sensor 260 may also be connected to the I/O inter- face 290.

Various additional sensors may also be connected to the control system 280 through the I/O interface 290. For example, a tilt sensor 300, which detects when the beverage chilling system 10 or 15 has been tipped, may be con- nected to the I/O interface 290.

The I/O interface 290 may also be connected to one or more communications interfaces 310. The communications interface 310 may be any device for communicating data to or from the CPU 270 and an outside device 360. For example, the communications interface 310 may be a USB interface, or an Ethernet interface. The communications interface 310 may additionally or alternatively include a wireless interface such a WiFi, Bluetooth, or an NFC interface. The I/O interface 290 may also be connected to a reader 365. The reader 365 can be configured in a known manner to read material relevant to a particular vessel 50 or to a particular beverage. This material could be a barcode on the side of the vessel 50 or a barcode located elsewhere. The material could also be an RFID tag located within the vessel 50 as described more fully below. It will also be appreciated that the reader 365 need not be integral with the beverage chilling system and could instead be one of the external devices serving as external device 360. The I/O interface 290 may also be connected to one or more indicators, displays, or user interfaces. For example, the I/O interface 290 may be connected to light emitting diodes that serve as status indicators 60. The light emitting diodes can change colour from, for example, red to blue when the vessel 50 has reached an operational temperature or when the combination of the beverage and the vessel 50 reaches the desired serving temperature. The light emitting diodes can be arranged e.g. as the light emitting diodes 690 in Figures 10a and 10b. The I/O interface 290 may also be connected to the user interface 70. The user interface 70 may be a knob for adjusting temperature, or it may be more complex, including, for example, a touchscreen and an array of indicators.

The control system 280 can also include various control units such as a cool- ing element power control unit 370 for each of the cooling elements 120.

If the beverage chilling system 10 or 15 has a pre-chill unit, which can be used to pre-chill vessels 50 before they are placed on the preparation surface or the receptacle aperture 40, then the control system 280 can also include a pre-chill power control 380, which would be electrically connected to a pre- chill cooling element 390.

The control system can also include a fan power control 400 electrically connected to a fan motor 410 to control operation of the fan assembly 200 or 680.

The main function for the control system 280 described above is to control the thermoelectric element or cooling element 120 to change the temperature of the preparation surface or receptacle aperture 40 in dependence of input signals received from the vessel presence sensor 650 and the vessel/receptacle temperature sensor 240, and to some extend also input signals received from the other sensors mentioned above. This is done by the CPU 270 through the cooling element power control 370. When a voltage is applied to the terminals of the thermoelectric element 120, a temperature differential is created between its hot side and its cold side, and a higher voltage results in a higher temperature difference. The cooling element power control unit 370 may use pulse width modulated control of the cooling ele- ments in which a duty cycle of pulses is used to control the average power supplied to the cooling elements.

As an example of the function of the control system 280, the CPU 270 can, when the system is switched on by the on/off switch 80, first check from the vessel presence sensor 650 whether a vessel 50 is present on the preparation surface or in the receptacle aperture 40. If this is not the case, the CPU 270 can control the thermoelectric element 120 to adjust the preparation surface to a standby temperature of e.g. 2°C. Information about the actual temperature is provided to the CPU 270 by the vessel/receptacle temperature sensor 240. When the vessel presence sensor 650 detects that a vessel 50, which may or may not have been pre-chilled in a pre-chill unit, has been placed on the preparation surface, the CPU 270 now controls the thermoelectric element 120 to adjust the preparation surface and/or the vessel 50 to an operational temperature of e.g. -15°C and maintain this temperature until a beverage is added to the vessel 50. As described in further detail below, heat is then transferred from the beverage to the vessel, so that the beverage is cooled to a serving temperature, which will typically be close to the operational temperature mentioned above. When the vessel 50 is removed from the preparation surface for serving of the chilled beverage, the vessel pres- ence sensor 650 detects that a vessel 50 is no longer present, and the CPU 270 can again control the thermoelectric element 120 to adjust the preparation surface to the standby temperature for safety reasons, unless a new vessel is immediately placed on the preparation surface to be cooled down. It is noted that the output signal from an inductive proximity sensor is temperature dependent. So when this type of sensor is used as the vessel presence sensor 650, the CPU 270 could also be programmed to adjust the output signal by a correction value in dependence of the temperature signal pro- vided to the CPU 270 by the vessel/receptacle temperature sensor 240, before the vessel presence signal is used as described above. This ensures a more stable sensitivity of the vessel presence sensor 650. The fan speed of the fan motor 410 can be controlled automatically by the fan power control 400 to be greater when a vessel is present (as detected for example by the sensors 650) so that the cooling load on the cooling elements is increased and causing them to generate more waste heat. There may also be provision for reversing the polarity of the cooling elements so that they heat rather than cool. This could be useful if an excess amount of ice accumulates at the receptacle 40 which may interfere with operation or even cause the vessel 50 to become trapped in or on the receptacle 40. As mentioned earlier, this also means that the system 10 or 15 can be used as a system for heating beverages in a vessel instead of cooling them. In that case, the lower side of the thermoelectric element 120 will be cold instead of hot, and the heat dispersal system, e.g. in the form of a heat sink, will transfer heat from the surroundings to the thermoelectric element instead of the other way round.

As mentioned, a user interface 70 may also be used in the control of the system 10 or 15. Several possible arrangements for the user interface 70 are shown in Figure 16. The user interface in the first panel of the embodiment of Figure 16 has a digital display 420, which can show an actual temperature, a set temperature, or both of one of the receptacle apertures 40 and/or a vessel 50 in the receptacle aperture 40. A display such as that shown in the first panel can also include a status indicator 430. As shown in the second panel, the user interface 70 can also display an amount of time before the receptacle aperture 40 will reach a predetermined operational temperature when the vessel is ready to receive a beverage or when the combination of the vessel 50 and a beverage that has been added to it will reach a predetermined serving temperature. This time could be displayed in a "countdown" manner. The times could be determined, for example, either using an algo- rithm or a lookup table based on measured or entered parameters such as actual temperatures or set temperatures. As shown in the next panel, the user interface 70 may include the ability to select one or more pre-set cooling profiles stored in the memory 440, either originally or as added or modified by a user. The user interface 70 may also include touch sensitive areas 450 associated with controls to set the predetermined operational temperature or a serving temperature, or selection of a program.

The user interface 70 can also be implemented as software operating on a computer or as an application on a smart phone or tablet or other wireless communication device. To implement this, the communications interface 310 could be configured to interface with an external device 360 such as a wireless enabled device such as a computer, tablet, or cell phone. The user could use an application on the mobile device to control operation of the bev- erage chilling system 10 or 15. In a commercial establishment, the external device 360 could be the establishment's vending system and the communications interface 310 could be configured to exchange data wirelessly with the establishment's vending system so as to create a record every time the beverage chilling system 10 or 15 is used. This could help reduce loss due to pilferage or excessive "comping" of patrons. If the external device 360 is a wireless enabled device such as a computer, tablet, or cell phone, an application could be installed on the external device 360 and the user interface for the application could, for example, be a visual representation of a display with controls such as anyone or combination of the arrangements shown in Figure 16.

The vessel 50 may be made of any one of several materials. The material is preferably selected so that the thermal capacity of the material and the mass of material used ensure sufficient thermal mass to cool the beverage intro- duced into the vessel 50 sufficiently quickly. Suitable materials include aluminium, copper, gold, or silver, or their alloys, or steel. Alternatively, one part of the vessel 50 may be made from one material and another part may be made from another material. This permits the use of an insulating material on the parts of the vessel 50 likely to come into contact with a user's fingers or lips. Aluminium in the vessels 50 may be anodized. The external surface of the vessel may be supplied with a surface effect such as an etched frost effect. It may be preferred for aesthetic reasons that the vessel 50 maintains a coating of frost even after it has reached a thermal equilibrium with the beverage inside. To achieve this, it is advantageous to have an operational temperature below -10°C. Coatings can be used to achieve or enhance this effect. It may be even desirable to include a system for misting or sprinkling water onto the outside of the vessel 50 when it is in the receptacle aperture 40 so as to promote an aesthetically pleasing frost effect on the exterior surface of the vessel 50.

One consideration in the design of a suitable vessel 50 is that when the vessel 50 is used in a commercial establishment it is likely to be washed in a commercial dishwasher in which it may be exposed to a combination of high temperature and corrosive cleaning agents. It is therefore preferred to coat at least the metallic portions of the inside and the outside of the vessel 50 with a surface treatment that can protect the metal from corrosion. It has been found that beverage container coatings can be used for this purpose. For example, for the outside of the vessel 50 a varnish made by The Valspar Corporation provides adequate protection. As an example, the varnish having the Product Code 6275000030 and Product Name E500B030 includes diethylene glycol butyl ether with a solvent and dimethyl succinate, but one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that other varnishes or other coating material may be used. For the interior the Valspar 93AA Beverage lining, Product ID 13S93AA may be used. Again, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that other coatings used to line beverage containers or coatings used for other applications may be used. Other coatings for the outside or inside of the vessel 50 may be used so long as they substantially arrest or sufficiently retard corrosion and do not create any toxicity issues for users who will be drinking from the vessel 50. As another example, powder coatings may be used. The thermally conductive bottom portion of the vessel 50 may also be provided with a coating adapted to prevent the vessel from freezing to the preparation surface of the apparatus. The vessel 50 may have any one of several configurations. For example, the vessel 50 could be provided with one or more elements that protrude into the interior volume of the vessel 50 and increase the interior surface area of the vessel 50 to promote heat flow from the beverage to the vessel 50. This is shown in Figure 17 in which the vessel 50 has a protrusion 320 extending from the centre of its base. Also, Figure 17 shows an example of a vessel 50 made of a combination of materials with an upper portion 330 made of glass and a lower portion 340 made of aluminium. It is preferable to place a 2cl mark on the inside surface of the vessel 50.

For some applications, the vessel 50 will be dimensioned to provide an interior volume sufficient to hold a "shot" of beverage. For example, in the embodiment of Figure 17, the diameter of the vessel 50 could be approximately 30 mm, its height could be approximately 60 mm, and the thickness of the glass walls in the upper portion 330 could be about 2 millimetres. This would provide a vessel 50 with an interior volume of approximately 2 centilitres. For other applications, the vessel 50 could be dimensioned to provide an interior volume sufficient to hold a larger volume of a beverage. For example, the vessel 50 could be dimensioned to hold beverage in aluminium can. Alternatively, the vessel 50 could be dimensioned to hold a cocktail glass such as a tumbler so that a drink could be mixed while the tumbler is still in the receptacle aperture 40. Of course, the receptacle aperture 40 would also have to be dimensioned to accommodate vessels 50 having larger diameters.

In the embodiment of Figure 17, the vessel 50 also includes a sensor 350, which may be a temperature sensor. As mentioned, alternatively or additionally, the sensor 350 may include RFID tag, which identifies the vessel 50 so that the beverage chilling system has information about the characteristics of the vessel 50. The beverage chilling system 10 or 15 could include an RFID reader that uses information supplied by the RFID tag to adapt a chilling "recipe" to the type of vessel 50 identified by the RFID tag. The RFID tag could also be used to reduce pilferage of the vessel 50. To achieve this, the establishment could place RFID readers or detectors near points of egress that could detect when the vessel 50 is being conveyed outside the premises. The RFID tag must be placed in the vessel 50 in such a way that it can communicate using radio transmission. In instances where the vessel 50 is made of metal, for example, it may be necessary to place a small window between the RFID tag and the exterior of the vessel 50.

The above embodiment is made of multiple materials. The vessel 50 may also be machined from a solid piece of material, in which case protrusion 320 could be formed during the machining process and so could be integral with the rest of the vessel 50.

As shown in Figure 17, the bottom of the vessel 50 can have a shape other than perfectly planar to increase the surface area of contact between the vessel 50 and the top of the cooling module 100. The top of the cooling module 100 would then be configured to conform to the shape of the bottom of the vessel 50. This is shown in Figure 18 in which the first conductive plate 1 10 (or, equivalently, one or more thermally conductive elements interposed between the base of vessel 50 and the top of the first conductive plate 1 10) is configured to conform to the shape of the base of the vessel 50. Thus, in the configuration shown in Figure 18, the cooling station 90 actually protrudes above the top surface of the cover 30.

Figure 19 shows another possible configuration for a vessel 50 with an upper portion 330 made of an insulating material such as rubber and a lower portion 340 made of a heat conducting material such as aluminium. Such an arrangement reduces the likelihood that someone handling or sipping from the vessel 50 will experience pain or discomfort (or even frostbite) from the vessel 50 when it is extremely cold. Also, in the case of a beverage being chilled in a metallic can, the bottom of the vessel 50 which would receive the can could be shaped to conform to the "dome" shape commonly found on the bottom of such cans. In such an embodiment, the vessel 50 would be placed in the receptacle aperture 40 and the can would be placed in the vessel 50 after the vessel 50 had reached the predetermined operational temperature. Also, the system could be configured so that the vessel 50 is not removable from the receptacle aperture 40 in normal use. As mentioned, the beverage chilling system 10 or 15 may include a vessel pre-chill station, which maintains the vessel 50 at a temperature below ambient temperature so that the vessels 50 may be chilled to their operational temperature more quickly.

One advantage of using a thermoelectric device is that by reversing polarity the cooling element 120 can be made to heat rather than chill a vessel 50 placed in receptacle aperture 40. The vessel 50 may then be preheated to rapidly heat beverages. Also, reversing polarity may be used to evaporate liquid in the receptacle aperture 40.

In an example of use, the beverage chilling system 10 or 15 is placed on a bar counter. If an external power supply 150 for the cooling elements 120 is used, it is preferably placed away from the console, for example, below a bar counter, so that the external power supply 150 is not exposed to spillage and the cooling element 120 is not exposed to heat generated by the external power supply 150.

Figures 20 and 21 illustrate a method of using the system described above. The individual operating the beverage chilling system 10 or 15 would place one of the vessels 50 on or into one of the receptacle apertures 40. At this part of the serving cycle, the vessel 50 will be at an ambient temperature or a pre-chill temperature (see Figure 21 ). In the bar setting, this individual would typically be a bartender. With reference to Figure 20, this corresponds to step S10 of the method illustrated in the flowchart. The vessel 50 may be at ambient temperature before it is placed in the receptacle aperture 40, but as mentioned if it is desired to reduce the time it takes for cooling the vessel 50 to an operational temperature after it is placed in the receptacle aperture 40, then it is possible to pre-chill the vessel 50 to a holding temperature. This pre-chilling can occur at a holding or pre-chill station having its own cooling system, which may include one or more thermoelectric coolers.

With further reference to Figure 20, in a next step S20 it is determined whether the vessel has achieved an operational temperature, that is, the temperature at which a fluid introduced into the vessel can be rapidly cooled to a desired temperature. As mentioned, the receptacle aperture 40 may include a temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the vessel 50 and provides an indication when the vessel 50 has reached the desired op- erational temperature. This indication may be in the form of an electrical signal, which may be used to trigger a visible or audible indication of when the vessel 50 is at operational temperature. For example, as described above, the beverage chilling system 10 or 15 may have one or more LEDs and the signal could be used to cause one of the LEDs to illuminate.

The time during which step S20 is being performed constitutes a first phase ("Phase I" or "vessel chilling phase") of the overall beverage serving cycle (see Figure 21 ). In an embodiment, it is preferable that the time for Phase I be less than about six minutes, more preferably less than about five minutes, even more preferably less than about four minutes, and most preferably less than three minutes. This makes it practical for the beverage chilling system 10 or 15 to be used in a commercial setting where a longer time for Phase I may make the duration of the overall beverage serving cycle too long. Any time after the vessel 50 reaches an operational temperature the user may add the desired beverage, e.g., spirits, into the vessel 50 in step S30. Once this is done, heat flows from the beverage to the vessel 50 as the temperature of the beverage decreases and the temperature of the vessel 50 increases until the beverage and the vessel 50 are nearly in thermal equilibrium in step S40. Here, it should be understood that a thermal equilibrium means that the vessel 50 and the liquid within it have reached nearly the same temperature. The system will not be in thermal equilibrium in the sense that the cooling module 100 continues to cool the vessel 50 and a fluid within vessel 50 as long as the vessel 50 remains in the receptacle aperture 40. Primary cooling of the beverage, however, is caused by transferring heat from the beverage to the vessel 50. In this case, additional cooling that may result by direct action of the cooling element 120 during the liquid chilling phase of the serving cycle is secondary.

The time during which step S40 is being performed constitutes a second phase ("Phase II" or "liquid chilling phase") of the overall beverage serving cycle (see Figure 21 ). In an embodiment, it is preferable that the time for Phase II be less than five minutes, more preferably less than about two minutes, and even more preferably less than about one minute. This makes it practical for the beverage chilling system 10 or 15 to be used in a commercial setting where a longer time for Phase II may be an unacceptably long period of time for a patron to wait after placing an order.

Thus, the thermal mass of the vessel 50 and the refrigerating capabilities of the cooling element 120 are selected to be such that the temperature of the vessel 50 and beverage at thermal equilibrium reach a desired serving temperature in an acceptably short period of time. The serving temperature can be a predetermined value which may be selectively programmable according to the beverage using a user interface 70 provided for that purpose. Alternatively, the equilibrium temperature may be determined when the rate of change of the temperature of the vessel falls below a predetermined threshold. Once the serving temperature has been achieved, the vessel 50 with the beverage inside it may be removed from cooling station 90 and served or consumed. This corresponds to step S50. The user may then put another vessel 50 in the receptacle aperture 40. As an example, ambient or room temperature in a commercial bar will typically be in the range of about 20°C to about 30°C. Using four minutes as an example of a duration for a serving cycle implies that each cooling station may be used to chill about 15 servings an hour. As mentioned, a serving cycle is made up of two distinct periods: (1 ) Phase I, the amount of time it takes a vessel 50 placed in the receptacle aperture 40 to reach a predetermined operational temperature (the vessel chilling period) and (2) Phase II, the amount of time it takes the combination of the vessel 50 and a beverage added to the vessel 50 to reach a serving temperature (the beverage chilling period). There may also be an idling period between Phase I and Phase II during which the vessel 50 remains at the operational temperature before a beverage is added to the vessel 50 but for the purposes of this discussion it is assumed that the user will want to add a beverage to the vessel 50 as soon as the vessel 50 is at its operational temperature.) It is also assumed that in most instances the user will remove the vessel/beverage combination from the receptacle aperture 40 soon after it reaches its serving temperature.

Assuming that serving the beverage and handling payment takes about 2 minutes, a 4-minute serving cycle implies it would be desirable for the bever- age chilling system 10 or 15 to be able to cool the vessel 50 to its operational temperature (Phase I) in about 2 to 3 minutes. Assuming the desired temperature for the vessel 50 before the beverage is introduced is in the range of about -5°C to about -35°C, as an example, it may be desired to reduce the temperature of the vessel 50 from about 25°C to about -20°C in about 2 - 3 minutes. It is also desired to cool the beverage once it has been added to the vessel 50 (Phase II) in an amount of time less than the amount of time required to cool the vessel 50 when it is empty (Phase I). In other words, the serving cycle is divided between Phase I and Phase II, and more time for one of these phases leaves less time for the other. It is preferred to make Phase II as short as possible. While this in the abstract appears to leave more time for Phase I there are countervailing considerations. Shortening Phase II implies using a lower operational temperature, a vessel 50 having higher thermal mass, or both. Using a lower operational temperature and/or vessel 50 having higher thermal mass, however, increases the duration of Phase I. Thus, at some point, efforts to shorten Phase II will actually increase the duration of the serving cycle because any decrease in the duration of Phase II will be more than offset by a greater increase in the duration of Phase I. In other words, shortening Phase II implies a lower operational temperature, which implies lengthening Phase I. If the constraints on the length of the serving cycle constitute a "time budget" of t minutes, e.g. 4 minutes, then it is preferred to expend more of that time budget on Phase I to make Phase II as short as possible. There is however, a natural limit as further shortening of Phase II incurs a time penalty of an even greater lengthening of Phase I. In an embodiment, it is preferred to select the operational temperature and vessel thermal mass such that the serving cycle is about four minutes, Phase I is about 3 ½ minutes, and Phase II is about ½ minute. Thus, the duration ratio of Phase I to Phase II is preferably about 7:1 .

In an alternative method of using the system described above the two phases, i.e. Phase I and Phase II described above, can be combined to one phase. In that case, the amount of beverage to be chilled or heated is added to a vessel 50 before the vessel is placed on the preparation surface or in the receptacle aperture, and the vessel and the beverage are chilled or heated together to a serving temperature in one single step.

Aluminium is presently the preferred material for the vessel 50 because of its high heat conductivity and because it has a specific heat capacity that per- mits the use of a vessel 50 of acceptable mass. The wall thickness and overall form and mass of the vessel 50 is determined empirically or based on thermal calculation optimization. For instance, if the vessel has thin walls, it will get cold faster, but it may then not have a sufficient thermal capacity and the temperature at thermal equilibrium with an added beverage will be higher, compared to a vessel with thicker walls.

Some of the considerations and trade-offs involved in the design of the beverage chilling system 10 or 15 are summarized in the following table: Advantage Drawback

Lower cooling time

Lower

Better Peltier efficiency power consumption None

Higher

Higher cooling capacity Lower cooling time power consumption

Larger footprint

Higher heat dissipation rate Lower cooling time More noise

As suggested, the design considerations for the vessel 50 and the overall system can be understood in terms of thermal mass, or, equivalently, thermal capacitance or heat capacity. These terms refer to the ability of a body to store thermal energy. Thermal capacitance is typically referred to by the symbol C_th and measured in units of J/°C or J/K per unit mass. A related quantity is specific heat capacity, measured in terms of J/g °C. For aluminium, the specific heat capacity is 0.902 J/g °C and the specific heat capacity of 100 grams of aluminium is therefore 90.2 Joules/°C. For an alcoholic beverage that is 50% alcohol (100 proof), the specific heat capacity may be approximated as the average of the specific heat capacity of ethyl alcohol, 2.46 J/g°C, and water, 4.184 J/g°C, or about 3.32 J/g °C. If a serving size is approximately 4 cl (about 40 grams) and one wishes to reduce the temperature of the serving from say 20 °C to about 0 °C, then this means that the vessel must be able to extract about 4000 Joules from the beverage. Thus, it is desired to make the vessel have as much mass as practical in view of the fact that it is generally not desirable to make the vessel so heavy that it is difficult for a user to manipulate it.

As mentioned, thermal mass together with operational temperature determine the rate at which cooling of the vessel 50 occurs during Phase I as well as the rate of cooling of the beverage added to the vessel 50 occurs during Phase II. Because the rate of cooling is a function of the initial temperature differential, it is desirable as a practical matter that the vessel 50 initially be as cold as possible. The temperature of the vessel 50 before a beverage is introduced will obviously in turn depend on the temperature of the cooling element. It is therefore desirable to use a relatively cold cooling element, e.g. one that can achieve temperatures of -50°C.

To show the effects of vessel mass and initial vessel temperature on the duration of Phase II, tests were conducted using vessels made of aluminium and having four different masses as follows:

The vessel was chilled to an initial operational temperature as indicated in the data below. Two centilitres of water at an ambient temperature of about 27 °C as shown were then added to the vessel. The temperature of the vessel and of the water were then measured separately several intervals. The results are shown below:

Vessel 3

Time [s] 0 3 8 14 18 22 27

Vessel temperature [°C] -22.4 -6.3 0.1 0.3 0.2 0 -0.1

Liquid temperature [°C] 26.8 22.5 14 10.3 8.1 6.6 6.1 Vessel 4

Time [s] 0 2 7 12 16 26 43

Vessel temperature [°C] -14.3 -14.3 -15 -15.7 -0.7 0.6 1 .7

Liquid temperature [°C] 27 24.8 18.2 12 9 7.6 5.1

As can be seen, the lightest vessel, vessel 1 , when cooled down to an initial temperature of -9.5 °C takes about 35 seconds to cool the water within it to an "equilibrium" temperature of 1 1 °C. Vessel 2, which was more massive than vessel 1 and cooled to a lower initial temperature, was able to cool the water within it to 8.5 °C in about 22 seconds. Vessel 3, which was more massive than vessel 2 and cooled to an even lower initial temperature, was able to cool the water within it to 6.1 °C in about 27 seconds. Vessel 4, which is more massive than vessel 3 but cooled to a higher initial temperature, was able to cool the water within it to 7.6 °C in about 26 seconds. This data thus in general demonstrates the dependence of (1 ) the time it takes to achieve a given final temperature on (2) the mass of the vessel and its initial temperature. These results are depicted in FIG 22. The line 500 graphs the results for vessel 1 , line 510 graphs the results for a vessel 2, line 520 graphs the results for vessel 3, and line 530 graphs the results for vessel 4. Thus, for example, if it were desired to achieve a final serving temperature of approximately 6°C in about 25 seconds (point 540 on the graph), then vessel 3 would be a suitable choice.

To show the effects of vessel mass and initial vessel temperature on the duration of Phase I, tests were conducted using vessels made of aluminium and having four different masses as follows:

Vessel 1 2 3 4

Mass [g] 10 35 45 82 The vessel was initially at room temperature. The temperature of the vessel was then measured separately several intervals. The results are shown below:

As can be seen, it takes the lightest vessel, vessel 1 , about 400 seconds to cool to about -20.5 °C but it can be cooled to about -12.6 °C in about 90 seconds. Vessel 2, which was more massive than vessel 1 could also be cooled to about -20.5 °C in about 400 seconds, but took 120 seconds to reach about -12.99°C. The other data are as shown. This data thus in general demonstrates the dependence of (1 ) the time it takes to achieve a given final temperature on (2) the mass of the vessel and the temperature one is trying to reach. These results are depicted in FIG 23. The line 550 graphs the results for vessel 1 , line 560 graphs the results for a vessel 2, line 570 graphs the results for vessel 3, and line 580 graphs the results for vessel 4. Thus, for example, if it were desired to achieve an operational temperature of in the range of about -15°C to about in about -20 °C in 200 seconds then vessel 1 , 2, or 3 would be a suitable choice.

The above description includes examples of one or more embodiments. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the aforementioned embodiments, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of various embodiments are possible. Furthermore, to the extent that the term "includes" is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term "comprising" as "comprising" is construed when employed as a transitional word in a claim. Furthermore, although elements of the described aspects and/or embodiments may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. Additionally, all or a portion of any aspect and/or embodiment may be utilized with all or a portion of any other aspect and/or embodiment, unless stated otherwise.

Although various embodiments of the present invention have been described and shown, the invention is not restricted thereto, but may also be embodied in other ways within the scope of the subject-matter defined in the following claims.

Claims

1 . An apparatus (10; 15) for chilling or heating a fluid, the apparatus comprising:

· at least one preparation surface (90; 1 15); and

• a heat transferring unit (100) positioned beneath the preparation surface (90; 1 15) to be in thermal communication with the preparation surface (90; 1 15), the heat transferring unit (100) comprising a first thermally conductive layer (1 10), a second thermally conductive layer (130) and a thermoelectric element (120) arranged between and in thermal communication with the first and second thermally conductive layers,

c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the preparation surface (90; 1 15) is adapted to receive a thermally conductive bottom portion of a vessel (50) such that said bottom portion is in thermal communication with the heat transferring unit (100) when the bottom portion is placed on the preparation surface (90; 1 15); and that the apparatus further comprises a vessel presence sensor (650) configured to detect the presence of a vessel on the preparation surface (90; 1 15).

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said vessel presence sensor (650) is an inductive sensor.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the inductive sensor (650) comprises a plurality of coils arranged in the immediate vicinity of the preparation surface (90; 1 15).

4. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the apparatus further comprises a temperature sensor (240).

5. An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the temperature sensor (240) is configured to detect the temperature of the preparation surface.

6. An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the temperature sensor (240) is configured to detect the temperature of a vessel placed on the preparation surface.

7. An apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the apparatus further comprises a control system (280) configured to control the function of the thermoelectric element (120) in dependence of at least one of said vessel presence sensor (650) and said temperature sensor (240).

8. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the control system (280) is configured to modify an output signal of said vessel presence sensor (650) in dependence of said temperature sensor (240).

9. An apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the control system is con- figured to activate the thermoelectric element (120), when the vessel presence sensor (650) indicates that a vessel is being placed on the preparation surface (90; 1 15).

10. An apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the control system (280) is configured to prevent the thermoelectric element (120) from being active when the vessel presence sensor (650) indicates that no vessel is placed on the preparation surface (90; 1 15).

1 1 . An apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the control system (280) is configured to control the thermoelectric element (120) to maintain the preparation surface (90; 1 15) at a standby temperature, such as 2°C, when the vessel presence sensor (650) indicates that no vessel is placed on the preparation surface (90; 1 15).

12. An apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 1 1 , wherein the control system (280) is configured to control the thermoelectric element (120) to maintain the preparation surface (90; 1 15) at an operational temperature, such as -15°C, when the vessel presence sensor (650) indicates that a vessel is placed on the preparation surface (90; 1 15).

13. An apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 12, wherein the appa- ratus further comprises a physical condition sensor (250) configured to detect the presence of a foreign object on or in the immediate vicinity of the preparation surface (90; 1 15), and that the control system (280) is configured to shut down the thermoelectric element (120) if the physical condition sensor (250) indicates the presence of a foreign object.

14. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the thermoelectric element (120) is specified to maintain a temperature differential of at least 80 °C between its hot side and its cold side when a hot side temperature of the thermoelectric element (120) is in the range of about 25 °C to about 35 °C.

15. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the thermoelectric element (120) is specified to have a heat transport capacity of at least 50 watts.

16. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the thermoelectric element (120) is a two-stage Peltier element.

17. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the prepa- ration surface (90; 1 15) has a size corresponding to the size of a bottom portion of a vessel (50) usually used to hold a drinkable fluid.

18. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 17, wherein a thermally conductive plate (1 1 1 ) comprising the preparation surface (1 15) is in thermal communication with the first thermally conductive layer (1 10).

19. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 17, wherein the first thermally conductive layer (1 10) comprises the preparation surface (90).

20. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 19, wherein the second thermally conductive layer (130) is in thermal communication with a heat sink (690).

21 . An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 19, wherein the second thermally conductive layer (130) comprises a heat sink.

22. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 19, wherein the second thermally conductive layer (130) is in thermal communication with a pump module (170) of a liquid-based heat dispersal system further comprising a heat exchanger assembly (180) connected to the pump module (170) through tubing (190).

23. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 19, wherein the second thermally conductive layer (130) is in thermal communication with an evaporator side of a vapor chamber (670).

24. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 19, wherein the second thermally conductive layer (130) constitutes an evaporator side of a vapor chamber (670).

25. An apparatus according to any one of claims 20 to 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises a fan assembly (200; 680) arranged to provide a forced airflow around the heat sink, heat exchanger or vapor chamber.

26. A system for chilling or heating a fluid, the system comprising:

• an apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 25; and

• at least one vessel (50) having a thermally conductive bottom portion adapted to be received by the preparation surface (90; 1 15) of the apparatus such that at least the bottom portion is in thermal communication with the heat transferring unit (100) when the bottom portion is placed on the preparation surface (90; 1 15).

27. A system according to claim 26, wherein the vessel (50) is made of a material having a specific heat capacity in the range of about 0.2 J/g °C to about 4 J/g °C.

28. A system according to claim 27, wherein the vessel (50) comprises aluminium.

29. A system according to claim 27, wherein the vessel (50) comprises cop- per.

30. A system according to claim 27, wherein the vessel (50) comprises gold.

31 . A system according to any one of claims 26 to 30, wherein the thermally conductive bottom portion of the vessel (50) is provided with a coating adapted to prevent the vessel from freezing to the preparation surface (90; 1 15) of the apparatus.

32. A method of chilling or heating a beverage, the method comprising the steps of:

• adding (S30) only the amount of beverage to be chilled or heated to a vessel (50) having a thermally conductive bottom portion adapted to be received by a preparation surface (90; 1 15) of an apparatus for chilling or heating a fluid and further comprising a thermoelectric ele- ment (120); and

• controlling (S40) the thermoelectric element (120) to chill or heat the amount of fluid added to the vessel (50) when the vessel is placed in thermal communication with the preparation surface (90; 1 15) of the apparatus.

33. A method according to claim 32, the method further comprising the steps of: • placing (S10) the vessel (50) in thermal communication with the preparation surface (90; 1 15) of the apparatus;

• controlling (S20) the thermoelectric element (120) to cool or heat the vessel (50) to an operational temperature in a first cooling or heating step;

• adding (S30) the amount of beverage to the vessel (50) while the vessel remains in thermal communication with the preparation surface (90; 1 15); and

• cooling or heating (S40) the amount of beverage to a serving tempera- ture by transfer of heat between the beverage and the vessel (50) in a second cooling or heating step.

34. A method according to claim 32, the method further comprising the steps of:

· adding the amount of beverage to the vessel (50) before placing the vessel on the preparation surface (90; 1 15) of the apparatus;

• placing the vessel (50) with the amount of beverage in thermal communication with the preparation surface (90; 1 15) of the apparatus; and

· controlling the thermoelectric element (120) to cool or heat the vessel (50) and the amount of beverage to a serving temperature.

35. A method according to any one of claims 32 to 34, the method further comprising the step of:

· controlling the thermoelectric element (120) to cool or heat the preparation surface (90; 1 15) of the apparatus to a standby temperature before placing the vessel (50) on the preparation surface (90; 1 15).