Beverage Container Cooling System and Method

Abstract

A beverage held in a container is rapidly cooled by placing the container in a flexible sleeve defining a sleeve chamber that is cooled, either directly or by a secondary loop of heat transfer fluid, by a closed refrigeration circuit. An agitation assembly is selectively operable to oscillate the sleeve about a yaw axis. During active cooling, a cooled fluid (such as refrigerant or a secondary heat transfer fluid) flows through the sleeve chamber while the agitation assembly is simultaneously operated to rapidly cool the beverage held within the container.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus for chilling a product container holding a beverage, the apparatus comprising:
 a refrigeration circuit including a compressor, a condenser, and an evaporator, the refrigeration circuit being configured to provide a refrigerant in the evaporator at a temperature of less than approximately −40° C.;   a sleeve assembly including:
 a sleeve base; and 
 a flexible sleeve coupled to the base and defining a longitudinal sleeve axis, the flexible sleeve defining a sleeve receptacle configured to receive the product container and a sleeve chamber thermally coupled to the evaporator; 
   an agitation assembly operably coupled to the sleeve base and configured to pivot the sleeve assembly about a yaw axis substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal sleeve axis; and   a controller operably coupled to the compressor and agitation assembly.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , in which the refrigeration circuit includes at least one internal heat exchanger. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , in which the controller is programmed to operate the agitation assembly to rotate the sleeve axis between a first sleeve limit axis and a second sleeve limit axis, and in which a yaw angle is defined between the first and second sleeve limit axes. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , in which the yaw angle is approximately 10-200°. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , in which the controller is programmed to operate the agitation assembly to oscillate the sleeve assembly at an oscillation frequency f of approximately 0.5-10 Hertz. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a fluid reservoir defining a reservoir chamber for holding a heat transfer fluid, at least a portion of the reservoir chamber being located in thermal conductive relation to the evaporator, the reservoir chamber fluidly communicating with the sleeve chamber; and   a pump operative to circulate the heat transfer fluid in the reservoir chamber through the sleeve chamber.   
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , in which the sleeve chamber includes a sleeve inlet port positioned in a first end portion of the sleeve, and at least one sleeve outlet port positioned in a second end portion of the sleeve opposite the first end portion. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , in which the agitation assembly comprises a motor operably coupled to the controller and mechanically coupled to the sleeve assembly. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , in which the sleeve comprises a sleeve material having an overall heat transfer coefficient of at least 1 W/m 2 . 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , in which the container includes a container sidewall and a container bottom wall, and in which the sleeve receptacle includes a receptacle sidewall and a receptacle bottom wall adapted to engage the container sidewall and container bottom wall, respectively. 
     
     
         11 . An apparatus for chilling a product container, the apparatus comprising:
 a refrigeration circuit including a compressor, a condenser, and an evaporator, the refrigeration circuit being configured to provide a refrigerant in the evaporator at a temperature of less than approximately −40° C.;   a sleeve assembly including:
 a sleeve base; and 
 a flexible sleeve coupled to the base and defining a longitudinal sleeve axis, the flexible sleeve defining a sleeve receptacle configured to receive the product container and a sleeve chamber thermally coupled to the evaporator; and 
   an agitation assembly operably coupled to the sleeve base and configured to pivot the sleeve assembly about a yaw axis substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal sleeve axis across a yaw angle α and at an oscillation frequency f to provide an Agitation Index of approximately 90-450°/sec.   
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 a fluid reservoir defining a reservoir chamber for holding a heat transfer fluid, at least a portion of the reservoir chamber being located in thermal conductive relation to the evaporator, the reservoir chamber fluidly communicating with the sleeve chamber; and   a pump operative to circulate the heat transfer fluid in the reservoir chamber through the sleeve chamber.   
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , in which the agitation assembly is configured to oscillate the sleeve axis between a first sleeve limit axis and a second sleeve limit axis, and in which the yaw angle is defined between the first and second sleeve limit axes. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , in which the yaw angle is approximately 10-200°. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , in which the agitation assembly is configured to oscillate the sleeve assembly at an oscillation frequency of approximately 0.5-10 Hertz. 
     
     
         16 . An apparatus for chilling a product container, the apparatus comprising:
 a refrigeration circuit including a compressor, a condenser, and an evaporator, the refrigeration circuit being configured to provide a refrigerant in the evaporator at a temperature of less than approximately −40° C.;   a sleeve assembly including:
 a sleeve base; and 
 a flexible sleeve coupled to the base and defining a longitudinal sleeve axis, the flexible sleeve defining a sleeve receptacle configured to receive the product container and a sleeve chamber thermally coupled to the evaporator; 
   an agitation assembly operably coupled to the sleeve base and configured to oscillate the sleeve, the agitation assembly including an agitator motor; and   a controller operably coupled to the compressor and agitator motor, the controller having an active mode in which the compressor and agitator motor are operated to provide a Performance Index of approximately 160-7,200,000 mL-K/hr.   
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , in which the Performance Index is based on a size of the product container of approximately 40-750 mL, a usage frequency of approximately 1-240 cycles/hour, and a beverage cooling temperature differential of approximately 4-40 Kelvin. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , in which the controller further has a standby mode in which the compressor is operated periodically to cool the flexible sleeve to a standby temperature. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 18 , in which the compressor and agitator motor are configured to draw less than an aggregate total of approximately 2400 Watts in both the standby and active modes. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 18 , further comprising a fluid reservoir defining a reservoir chamber for holding a heat transfer fluid, at least a portion of the reservoir chamber being located in thermal conductive relation to the evaporator, the reservoir chamber fluidly communicating with the sleeve chamber, and a pump operative to circulate the heat transfer fluid in the reservoir chamber through the sleeve chamber, and in which the pump is also operated periodically in the standby mode.