System for maintaining desired heated or cooled beverage for extended duration

Abstract

A system for heating or cooling a liquid beverage and maintaining desired range of drinking temperature is described by utilizing a container having a concave shape for the body of the container, a converging neck portion with cylindrical chimney with threaded sleeve that receives a threaded closure for closing and sealing the cap. The type of threads or closing method in not novel nor claimed as part of the invention, but rather the combination of thinness between the front side of the container and rear side of the container, the height and width aspect ratio, the concave shape in conjunction with a complementing-shaped protective insulating and heat reflecting sleeve, and temporary heat source or cooling source. The shape of the container allows the liquid contents of the container to be rapidly heated or cooled, with the heated or cooled state retained for an optimal duration by application of the thermally insulative and thermally reflective sleeve, which includes as a benefit of the shape of the container and sleeve, a designed-in potential space for application of a precisely sized temporary heat source or cooling source which maintains the temperature of the contents of the container in a desired heated or cooled state.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]This invention relates to thin wall metal beverage cans, glass or plastic beverage containers, and in particular to beverage containers having a threaded neck portion for receiving a threaded closure cap to seal the contents of the container.[0003]2. Description of the Prior Art[0004]Aluminum cans are now widely used in the packaging of beer, soft drinks, etc. and these are typically shaped as a cylinder. Although the standard aluminum cans offer a number of advantages for the beverage suppliers, such as low cost, excellent barrier properties, recyclability, etc., there is at present a significant interest in reclosable / resealable cans with an extreme oval, or concave shape for certain market segments.[0005]There have been many attempts to design a reclosable can, such as U.S. Pat. No. 7,171,840 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,261,216. PCT Publication No. WO 99 / 10242 published Mar. 4, 1999 shows yet another form of resealable can c...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011]The present invention provides a recloseable metal beverage container made from a thin gauge metal, e.g., an aluminum alloy, or alternatively, glass or high temperature-capable plastic. The container has a definitive front side and back side, as the shape of the container is concave in the preferred embodiment, and extreme oval in an alternate embodiment (the concaved side being the rear of the container), allowing a descriptive label to be shown on the front side. There is a converging shoulder portion extending upwardly and inwardly from the sides, and a neck extending upwardly from the top of the shoulder portion. The concaved side of the preferred embodiment allows for the placement of the container into an ovoid shaped thermally insulating and thermally reflective sleeve. This creates a lens-shaped void in-between the back of the container and the thermal sleeve. This void is subsequently filled with a disposable heat source (already commercially available) that can be used to heat the contents of the container, or keep already heated contents to the preferred heated drinking state. Likewise the void can be filled with a commercially available cooling packet. By the fact that the concave (flask) shape of the container means that the entire container is less than 1.5 inches deep, the container, without the thermal sleeve, can also be heated by the consumer or beverage vendor (restaurant / bar) in a derivative of a commercially available wide-opening “toaster” type of heating device, or microwave oven in the case of a glass or plastic container. This optional heating method is optimized by the combination of the wideness (sq. inches of area on front and rear of the container, and thinness of the volume of the container (as compared to a cylindrical beverage can). When heat is applied to both sides in the “toaster”, the shape of the container facilitates the rapid heating the contents. Regardless of the heating method used, the beverage contained therein is thereby enjoyed by the consumer in a heated state. Rigorous testing has shown that the contents of the container will maintain the desired temperature up to 1 hour longer than a container without the benefits of the system in this application. In a cooling application, the thermally insulative sleeve combined with a cooling packet has a similar effect of keeping the beverage at the optimal temperature for an extended duration.

Problems solved by technology

Rigorous testing has shown that the contents of the container will maintain the desired temperature up to 1 hour longer than a container without the benefits of the system in this application.

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