Equipment for the quick cooling of liquids in containers

Abstract

 An equipment for cooling quickly liquids in containers has a first tank (11) containing a coolant (12) and a second tank (13) containing at least one container (14) with the liquid to cool. The tanks (11, 13) are connected by a pipe (23) which is meant to feed the coolant (12) from the first tank (11) to the second (13) one by means of first motor means (21). A second pipe (25) connects the two tanks (11, 13) for recycling the coolant (12) from the second tank (13) back to the first one (11). Second motor means (15, 16) keep the coolant (12) to prefixed temperatures and means (22, 19) are provided to activate the two motor means (21, 15, 16).

Description

[0001] The invention refers to an equipment for the quick cooling of liquids in containers.

[0002] In particular the object of the patent is a refrigerating equipment for cooling in a very short time the liquid contained in one or more bottles, may it be wine, beer or liquor and so on.

[0003] Equipments that have this same purpose are already known, but they present some drawbacks. In these equipments the coolant is normally located in the same tank in which the containers with the liquid to cool are inserted. Thus the following problems appear: first of all the coolant is inevi­tably short because it fills only part of the volume of the tank so there is enough space for the immer­sion of the containers to cool. So the same cooler cannot store up much cold, and therefore it is necessary to install very powerful refrigerators to reset the temperature of the coolant. As the coolant is not agitated and it is not recycled, the cooling time is quite long. Moreover, as it is necessary to keep the coolant temperature very low (below -20 degrees) to obtain a quick cooling of the container, in the known equipments the liquid, after a certain time, freezes, and the following volume increase of the liquid may damage the container or even break it, if it is glass.

[0004] It is a purpose of the invention to propose an equipment to resolve the above mentioned drawbacks the proposed equipment has a first tank which is meant to contain the coolant and a second tank, separated from the first one, in which the contai­ners with the liquid to cool are fitted; the two tanks are connected so that the coolant is pumped from the main tank into the tank holding the contai­ners with the liquid to cool and from this tank it returns automatically into the main tank with a continuous cycle that lasts long enough to let the liquids in the containers in the second tank reach the desired temperature.

[0005] Means for keeping the temperature as near as possible to the wanted temperature can be inserted in the main tank, while there is going to be a continuous recycling of very low temperature coolant so that the cooling time for the liquid inside the containers is going to be reduced very much compared with previous solutions.

[0006] For these and other purposes that will be bet­ter understood later on, the invention proposes to realize an equipment for rapidly cooling liquids in containers wherein there are a first tank containing a coolant and a second tank where at least one container with liquid to cool is fitted: the tanks being connected by means of a pipe for feeding the coolant from the first tank to the second one through a first engine; at least a second pipe connecting the two tanks for the ricycling of the coolant from the second tank towards the first one; a second engine being provided for keeping the coolant to pre-fixed temperatures and means to activate the above mentioned two engines.

[0007] We are now going to describe the equipment according to the invention referring to the drawing which is a schematic view showing the main elements of the invention.

[0008] The equipment according to the invention has a base envelope 10 on top of which there is a tank 11 containing the coolant 12. Above the tank 11 a second smaller tank 13 is located where the liquid containers 14 are fitted: in this case they have been shown as bottles.

[0009] A compressor 15 is fitted inside the inferior body 10 and it is connected with a refrigeration gas condenser 16 which is connected, through a capillary or through an expansion valve 17, with tank 11.

[0010] Said tank has its own walls 18 shaped like an evaporated to cool and keep cold the coolant 12 that is inside. One kind of liquid that is particularly indicated for these purposes, but not the only one, is inhibited ethylene glicol which is an unfreezing liquid mixable in water.

[0011] The compressor is operated by a thermostat 19 provided with a sensor 20 which is dipped in the liquid 12.

[0012] A pump 21, activated by an adjustable timer 22, sucks up the liquid 12 from tank 11 and sends it through pipe 23 to tank 13 which is above and where containers 14 are kept; tank 13 is also provided with a calibrated hole 24 connecting it directly with tank 11 and an overflow pipe 25 that connects the upper part of tank 13 with the inside of tank 11.

[0013] Thermostat 19 is meant to feel the temperature of the coolant 12 by means of its sensor 20; when this temperature should eventually rise above a preset temperature, the thermostat will then acti­vate the compressor and then the condenser 16 to take the coolant 12 back to the preset temperature by means of the evaporator 18 connected with condenser 16.

[0014] When it is necessary to cool the liquid inside containers 14, these should be put inside tank 13 and then the operator must set timer 22 to work the equipment for a preset time according to the number of containers that are fitted inside tank 13, to the initial temperature of the liquid therein contained and according to the final temperature that the liquid should reach.

[0015] By working timer 22, pump 21 is going to suck up the liquid coolant 12 continuously from main tank 11 and send it through pipe 23 inside tank 13 during the whole period for which the timer has been set.

[0016] This coolant surrounds containers 14: part of it exits through the hole 24 on the bottom, while most of it flows out through overflow pipe 25 returning to main tank 11. The liquid is going to be constantly moving and flowing around containers 14, and as it is never going to stop inside tank 13, it is going to cool both containers 14 and the liquid inside them very quickly.

[0017] Therefore it is up to the user to reckon how much time is necessary for reaching the temperature wanted for the liquid inside containers 14; the timer has the purpose of regulating the lenght of the operation period of the equipment according to the initial and final conditions of the liquid at issue.

[0018] The timer 22 could be replaced by a switch that would need the operator to control the temperature of the containers 14 continuously so to avoid any damage or prevent them from bursting (in the case of glass bottles) if said containers should ever be forgotten and left inside tank 13 for two long with the equipment working.

[0019] The calibrated hole 24, that could also be replaced bu a magnetic valve, is meant for letting out completely the coolant 12 out of tank 13 when the cooling operation of the containers 14 is over so that the coolant may be recuperated completely and take away from tank 13 the containers 14 may be taken out of tank 13 completely drained.

[0020] So called eutectic plates may also be placed inside the main tank 11 for helping the compressor to keep the coolant 12 as close as possible to the wanted temperature, gathering a great deal of cold in their change of state from liquid to solid (this is their characteristic) in a reduced volume.

[0021] For such purpose the thermostat 19 may be set for activating the engine 15 when the coolant 12 reaches a temperature of -19 degrees minus zero and for putting it off when the temperature of -23 C minus zero is reached. Consequently the eutetic plates (26) should be of the kind that keep solid for temperatures equal or exceeding -18 C minus zero degrees, for instance one at minus 18 degrees C, one at minus 16 degrees C, another one at minus 14 degrees C and so on, or else all of them at the same temperature, for instance minus 18 degrees C.

[0022] So in this case the eutetic plates (26) supply cold to the liquid only in case there is a very high instantaneous request (like many containers 14 to be cooled consecutively) so that it is necessary to have some means that may refrigerate the coolant very quickly with the use of a low power engine.

Claims

1. An equipment for cooling quickly liquids in containers characterized by the fact that it comprises a first tank (11) containing a coolant (12) and a second tank (13) containing at least one container (14) with the liquid to cool; the tanks being connected by a pipe (23) meant to feed the coolant (12) from the first tank (11) to the second one (13) by means of a first engine (21); at least a second pipe (25) connecting the two tanks (11, 13) for recycling the coolant (12) from the second tank towards the first one; a second engine (15, 16) being provided for keeping the coolant (12) to prefixed temperatures as well as a means to activate (22, 19) the above mentioned first (21) and second (15, 16) engines.

2. An equipment as described in claim 1 wherein the two tanks (11, 13) are placed one upon the other, the one containing the coolant (12) being bigger and so positioned under; the second pipe (25) connecting the two tanks being an overflow pipe and connecting the inside of the tank (11) with the coolant to the upper edge of the second tank (13).

3. An equipment as described in claim 2 wherein the bottom of the second tank (13) and the first tank (11) are connected by a calibrated hole (24) that allows to empty the second tank (13) completely into the first tank (11) at the end of each cycle.

4. An equipment as described in claim 1 wherein eutectic plates (26) are fitted inside the first tank (11) in contact with the coolant (12).

5. An equipment as described in claim 4 wherein the eutectic plates (26) keep solid with temperatures exceeding the temperature at which said thermostat (19) works said engines (15, 16).

6. An equipment as described in claim 1 wherein the first engine is made up by a pump (21) which is worked by a timer (22).

7. An equipment as described in claim 1 wherein the second engine is made up by a compressor (15) connected with a refrigeration gas condenser (16) which is connected, through a capillary or an expansion valve (17), with an evaporator (18) in contact with the coolant (12) in the first tank (11).

8. An equipment as described in claim 7 wherein the evaporator (18) covers the inner surface of the first tank (11).

9. An equipment as described in claim 7 wherein the means that activate the compressor (15) are a thermostat (19) having a sensor (20) that is dipped into the first tank (11).

10. An equipment as described in claim 1 wherein the coolant (12) is inhibited ethylene glycol.

Drawing