Portable apparatus for sequentiallly cooling a plurality of containers of beverages and the like

Claim 2

A portable, open cycle, refrigeration apparatus for sequentially cooling containers of beverages and the like and having a capacity for a plurality of sequential cooling operations comprising: a portable housing; evaporator means carried by said housing for receiving and circulating a refrigerant therethrough during each cooling operation and including venting means for releasing the refrigerant after circulation to the atmosphere and defining therewithin a receptacle for recieving a container to be cooled in close heat-conducting relation thereto; a refrigerant supply tank carried by said housing for initialy containing a supply of a pressurized refrigerant sufficient for a plurality of sequential cooling operations; conduit means carried by said housing and communicating with said evaporator means and said refrigerant supply tank for transmitting the pressurized refrigerant from said tank to said evaporator means; and valve means carried by said housing and forming a part of said conduit means and including means for actuating said valve means to allow the flow of pressurized refrigerant from said refrigerant supply tank and pressure responsive means responsive to the flow of a predetermined quantity of less than the total supply of refrigerant from said supply tank sufficient for a single cooling operation for deactuating said valve means to stop the flow of refrigerant from said supply tank and provide the predetermined quantity of refrigerant to said evaporator for a single cooling operation.

Claim 3

A portable, open cycle, refrigeration apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said portable housing includes insulation surrounding said evaporator means and ports extending through said housing and communicating with said evaporator venting means, so that refrigerant released therefrom will flow into said insulation and out of said ports in said housing to the atmosphere for obtaining additional circulation of the refrigerant to enhance cooling.

Claim 4

A portable, open cycle, refrigeration apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said refrigerant supply tank comprises a disposable tank removably secured to said conduit means within said housing for being removed and replaced by another disposable supply tank when the refrigerant is exhausted.

Claim 5

A portable, open cycle, refrigeration apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said refrigerant supply tank comprises a permanent tank secured to said conduit means and including port means extending therefrom through said housing for replenishing the supply of refrigerant within said tank when the refrigerant is exhausted.

Claim 6

A portable, open cycle, refrigeration apparatus for sequentially cooling containers of beverages and the like and having a capacity for a plurality of sequential cooling operations comprising: a portable housing; evaporation means carried by said housing for receiving and circulating a refrigerant therethrough during each cooling operation and including venting means for releasing the refrigerant after circulation to the atmosphere and defining therewithin a receptacle for receiving the container to be cooled in close heat-conducting relation thereto; a refrigerant supply tank carried by said housing for initially containing a supply of a pressurized refrigerant sufficient for a plurality of sequential cooling operations; a metering tank carried by said housing for receiving a predetermined amount of refrigerant from said supply tank for a single cooling operation; conduit means carried by said housing and communicating with said refrigerant supply tank, said metering tank and said evaporator means for transmitting the pressurized refrigerant from said supply tank to said metering tank and from said metering tank to said evaporator means; and valve means carried by said housing and forming a part of said conduit means and including means for actuating said valve means to allow the flow of pressurized refrigerant from said refrigerant supply tank to said metering tank while preventing the flow of refrigerant from said metering tank to said evaporator means and means responsive to the flow of a predetermined quantity of less than the total supply of refrigerant from said supply tank to said metering tank for deactuating said valve means to stop the flow of refrigerant from said supply tank to said metering tank and to allow the flow of the predetermined quantity of refrigerant from said metering tank to said evaporator means for a single cooling operation.

Claim 7

A portable, open cycle, refrigeration apparatus for sequentially cooling containers of beverages and the like and having a capacity for a plurality of sequential cooling operations comprising: a portable housing; evaporation means carried by said housing for receiving and circulating a refrigerant therethrough during each cooling operation and including venting means for releasing the refrigerant after circulation to the atmosphere and defining therewithin a receptacle for receiving the container to be cooled in close heat-conducting relation thereto; a refrigerant supply tank carried by said housing for initially containing a supply of a pressurized refrigerant sufficient for a plurality of sequential cooling operations; a metering tank carried by said housing for receiving a predetermined amount of refrigerant from said supply tank for a single cooling operation; conduit means carried by said housing and communicating with said refrigerant supply tank, said metering tank and said evaporator means for transmitting the pressurized refrigerant from said supply tank to said metering tank and from said metering tank to said evaporator means; and valve means carried by said housing and forming a part of said conduit means and including means for actuating said valve means to allow the flow of pressurized refrigerant from said refrigerant supply tank to said metering tank while preventing the flow of refrigerant from said metering tank to said evaporator means and means responsive to the flow of a predetermined quantity of less than the total supply of refrigerant from said supply tank to said metering tank for deactuating said valve means to stop the flow of refrigerant from said supply tank to said metering tank and to allow the flow of the predetermined quantity of refrigerant from said metering tank to said evaporator means for a single cooling operation.

Claim 8

A portable, open cycle, refrigeration apparatus, as set forth in claim 5, wherein said valve means includes means biasing said valve means in the deactuated position thereof, said means for actuating said valve means comprises a manually depressable valve shifting means and a latch means for holding said valve means in the actuated position against the bias of said biasing means, and said means for deactuating said valve means comprises a pressure sensitive bellows means connected with said latch means and with said conduit means extending between said supply tank and said metering tank and being responsive to the equalizing of pressure between said supply tank and said metering tank when a predetermined quantity of pressurized refrigerant has flowed from said supply tank to said metering tank for unlatching said latch means to allow said valve to return under the influence of said biasing means to the unactuated position thereof.

Claim 9

A portable, open cycle, refrigeration apparatus for sequentially cooling containers of beverages and the like and having a capacity for a plurality of sequential cooling operations comprising: a portable housing; evaporator means carried by said housing for receiving and circulating a refrigerant therethrough during each cooling operation and including venting means for releasing the refrigerant after circulation to the atmosphere and defining therewithin a receptacle for receiving the container to be cooled in close heat-conducting relation thereto; a refrigerant supply tank carried by said housing for initially containing a supply of pressurized refrigerant sufficient for a plurality of sequential cooling operations; conduit means carried by said housing and communicating with said refrigerant supply tank and said evaporator means for transmitting the pressurized refrigerant from said supply tank to said evaporator means; a fixed resistance orifice means in said conduit at the entrance to said evaporator means for resisting the flow of pressurized refrigerant therethrough and for creating an increasing back pressure in said conduit means as the pressurized refrigerant flows therethrough; and valve means carried by said housing and forming a part of said conduit means and including means for actuating said valve means to allow the flow of pressurized refrigerant from said supply tank to said evaporator means and pressure responsive means responsive to the predetermined back pressure created in said conduit means by the flow of a predetermined quantity less than the total supply of refrigerant from said supply tank to said evaporator means sufficient for a single cooling operation for deactuating said valve means to stop the flow of refrigerant from said supply tank to said evaporator means.

Claim 10

A portable, open cycle, refrigeration apparatus for sequentially cooling containers of beverages and the like and having a capacity for a plurality of sequential cooling operations comprising: a portable housing; evaporator means carried by said housing for receiving and circulating a refrigerant therethrough during each cooling operation and including venting means for releasing the refrigerant after circulation to the atmosphere and defining therewithin a receptacle for receiving the container to be cooled in close heat-conducting relation thereto; a refrigerant supply tank carried by said housing for initially containing a supply of pressurized refrigerant sufficient for a plurality of sequential cooling operations; conduit means carried by said housing and communicating with said refrigerant supply tank and said evaporator means for transmitting the pressurized refrigerant from said supply tank to said evaporator means; a fixed resistance orifice means in said conduit at the entrance to said evaporator means for resisting the flow of pressurized refrigerant therethrough and for creating an increasing back pressure in said conduit means as the pressurized refrigerant flows therethrough; and valve means carried by said housing and forming a part of said conduit means and including means for actuating said valve means to allow the flow of pressurized refrigerant from said supply tank to said evaporator means and pressure responsive means responsive to the predetermined back pressure created in said conduit means by the flow of a predetermined quantity less than the total supply of refrigerant from said supply tank to said evaporator means sufficient for a single cooling operation for deactuating said valve means to stop the flow of refrigerant from said supply tank to said evaporator means.

Claim 11

A portable, open cycle refrigeration apparatus for sequentially cooling containers of beverages and the like and having a capacity for a plurality of sequential cooling operations comprising: a portable housing; evaporator means carried by said housing for receiving and circulating a refrigerant therethrough during each cooling operation and including venting means for releasing the refrigerant after circulation to the atmosphere and defining therewithin a receptacle for receiving a container to be cooled in close heat-conducting relation thereto, said evaporator means comprises a substantially smooth and generally cylindrical inner wall and an outer wall extending substantially around said inner wall and being contiguous therewith and having undulations therein for forming with said inner wall a serpentine passageway for the flow of the refrigerant through said evaporator means, said evaporator means comprises a generally cylindrical shape slightly smaller in diameter than the container to be received therein, said evaporator means being formed of flexible and resilient material and defines slight longitudinally extending gap means therein so that the container may be force-fitted into said receptacle by radial expansion of said evaporator means to insure a close heat-conducting relation betwee the container and said evaporator means; a refrigerant supply tank carried by said housing for initially containing a supply of a pressurized refrigerant sufficient for a plurality of sequential cooling operations; conduit means carried by said housing and communicating with said evaporator means and said refrigerant supply tank for transmitting the pressurized refrigerant from said tank to said evaporator means; and valve means carried by said housing and forming a part of said conduit means and including means for actuating said valve means to allow the flow of pressurized refrigerant from said refrigerant supply tank and means responsive to the flow of a predetermined quantity of less than the total supply of refrigerant from said supply tank sufficient for a single cooling operation for deactuating said valve means to stop the flow of refrigerant from said supply tank and provide the predetermined quantity of refrigerant to said evaporator for a single cooling operation.

Claim 12

A portable, open cycle refrigeration apparatus for sequentially cooling containers of beverages and the like and having a capacity for a plurality of sequential cooling operations comprising: a portable housing; evaporator means carried by said housing for receiving and circulating a refrigerant therethrough during each cooling operation and including venting means for releasing the refrigerant after circulation to the atmosphere and defining therewithin a receptacle for receiving a container to be cooled in close heat-conducting relation thereto, said evaporator means comprises a substantially smooth and generally cylindrical inner wall and an outer wall extending substantially around said inner wall and being contiguous therewith and having undulations therein for forming with said inner wall a serpentine passageway for the flow of the refrigerant through said evaporator means, said evaporator means comprises a generally cylindrical shape slightly smaller in diameter than the container to be received therein, said evaporator means being formed of flexible and resilient material and defines slight longitudinally extending gap means therein so that the container may be force-fitted into said receptacle by radial expansion of said evaporator means to insure a close heat-conducting relation betwee the container and said evaporator means; a refrigerant supply tank carried by said housing for initially containing a supply of a pressurized refrigerant sufficient for a plurality of sequential cooling operations; conduit means carried by said housing and communicating with said evaporator means and said refrigerant supply tank for transmitting the pressurized refrigerant from said tank to said evaporator means; and valve means carried by said housing and forming a part of said conduit means and including means for actuating said valve means to allow the flow of pressurized refrigerant from said refrigerant supply tank and means responsive to the flow of a predetermined quantity of less than the total supply of refrigerant from said supply tank sufficient for a single cooling operation for deactuating said valve means to stop the flow of refrigerant from said supply tank and provide the predetermined quantity of refrigerant to said evaporator for a single cooling operation.

Claim 13

A portable, open cycle, refrigeration apparatus for sequentially cooling containers of beverages and the like and having a capacity for a plurality of sequential cooling operations comprising: a portable housing; evaporator means carried by said housing for receiving and circulating a refrigerant therethrough during each cooling operation and including venting means for releasing the refrigerant after circulation to the atmosphere and defining therewithin a receptacle for receiving a container to be cooled in close heat-conducting relation thereto; a refrigerant supply tank carried by said housing for initially containing a supply of a pressurized refrigerant sufficient for a plurality of sequential cooling operations; conduit means carried by said housing and communicating with said refrigerant supply tank and said evaporator means for transmitting the pressurized refrigerant from said supply tank to said evaporator means; a fixed resistance orifice means in said conduit at the entrance to said evaporator means for resisting the flow of pressurized refrigerant therethrough and for creating an increasing back pressure in said conduit means as the pressurized refrigerant flows therethrough; and valve means carried by said housing and forming a part of said conduit means and including means for actuating said valve means to allow the flow of pressurized refrigerant from said supply tank to said evaporator means and pressure responsive means responsive to the predetermined back pressure created in said conduit means by the flow of a predetermined quantity less than the total supply of refrigerant from said supply tank to said evaporator means sufficient for a single cooling operation for deactuating said valve means to stop the flow of refrigerant from said supply tank to said evaporator means, said valve means includes means biasing said valve means in the deactuated position thereof, said means for actuating said valve means comprises a manually depressable valve shifting means and a latch means for holding said valve in the actuated position against the bias of said biasing means, said means for deactuating said valve means comprising a pressure sensitive bellows means connected with said latch means and with said conduit means and being responsive to a predetermined back pressure in said conduit means for unlatching said latch means to allow said valve means to return under the influence of said biasing means to the actuated position thereof.

Claim 14

A portable, open cycle, refrigeration apparatus for sequentially cooling containers of beverages and the like and having a capacity for a plurality of sequential cooling operations comprising: a portable housing; evaporator means carried by said housing for receiving and circulating a refrigerant therethrough during each cooling operation and including venting means for releasing the refrigerant after circulation to the atmosphere and defining therewithin a receptacle for receiving a container to be cooled in close heat-conducting relation thereto; a refrigerant supply tank carried by said housing for initially containing a supply of a pressurized refrigerant sufficient for a plurality of sequential cooling operations; conduit means carried by said housing and communicating with said refrigerant supply tank and said evaporator means for transmitting the pressurized refrigerant from said supply tank to said evaporator means; a fixed resistance orifice means in said conduit at the entrance to said evaporator means for resisting the flow of pressurized refrigerant therethrough and for creating an increasing back pressure in said conduit means as the pressurized refrigerant flows therethrough; and valve means carried by said housing and forming a part of said conduit means and including means for actuating said valve means to allow the flow of pressurized refrigerant from said supply tank to said evaporator means and pressure responsive means responsive to the predetermined back pressure created in said conduit means by the flow of a predetermined quantity less than the total supply of refrigerant from said supply tank to said evaporator means sufficient for a single cooling operation for deactuating said valve means to stop the flow of refrigerant from said supply tank to said evaporator means, said valve means includes means biasing said valve means in the deactuated position thereof, said means for actuating said valve means comprises a manually depressable valve shifting means and a latch means for holding said valve in the actuated position against the bias of said biasing means, said means for deactuating said valve means comprising a pressure sensitive bellows means connected with said latch means and with said conduit means and being responsive to a predetermined back pressure in said conduit means for unlatching said latch means to allow said valve means to return under the influence of said biasing means to the actuated position thereof.

Claim 15

A portable, open cycle, refrigeration apparatus, as set forth in claim 9, in which said means for deactuating said valve means further includes an adjustable flow resistance means between said conduit means and said bellows means for adjusting the amount of back pressure necessary for actuating said bellows means to unlatch said latch means for deactuating said valve means and thus control the quantity of refrigerant flowing from said supply tank to said evaporator means.