Beverage cooler for providing supercooled or chilled beverages
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional coolers are not well-suited for maintaining beverages at or below their freezing point to achieve supercooling, leading to issues with nucleation and potential freezing, which can result in unsellable frozen beverages and safety hazards, and require separate coolers for different temperature settings, making them expensive and inconvenient.
Innovation Solution
A cooler with a cabinet, door, and a control unit that maintains a precise temperature between −1° C. and −10° C., using a cooling unit and temperature sensors to ensure the beverage remains supercooled without freezing, and includes a lock to prevent door opening until the desired temperature is reached, allowing for the formation of slush beverages upon agitation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If the beverage container is stored at a temperature at or below the freezing point of the beverage, then the beverage undergoes nucleation and forms a slush beverage, but the beverage may freeze within the cooler if the temperature is too low
Solution Approach 1:
The cooler enables precise adjustment of the temperature parameter within a narrow range (e.g., -2°C to -6°C) to maintain the beverage in a supercooled state. By controlling the temperature parameter with high precision, the system achieves nucleation without freezing, resolving the contradiction between achieving slush formation and preventing complete freezing.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooler incorporates temperature sensors and control systems that continuously monitor the beverage temperature and adjust the cooling mechanism accordingly. This feedback mechanism ensures the temperature remains within the optimal range for supercooling, preventing both insufficient nucleation and complete freezing, thus improving reliability of beverage state control.
2Measurement precision
If a separate cooler is used for supercooled beverages, then precise temperature control is achieved, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The cooler is designed with adjustable temperature settings that allow it to perform multiple functions: storing beverages at standard refrigeration temperatures and at supercooled temperatures for slush formation. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate dedicated coolers, reducing device complexity and cost while maintaining precise temperature control capability when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooler incorporates dynamically adjustable temperature control, allowing users to switch between different temperature modes (standard cooling and supercooling). This dynamic adaptability enables a single device to replace multiple static devices, reducing overall system complexity while preserving measurement precision through controlled adjustment mechanisms.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the door is locked to maintain precise temperature, then temperature stability is improved, but the ease of operation is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The cooler automatically locks the door upon detecting that the beverage has reached the target supercooled temperature, preventing premature opening that would disrupt the temperature stability. This preliminary locking action ensures temperature composition stability is maintained once the desired state is achieved, while the automated nature of the lock minimizes operational burden on the user.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables the precise control of temperature to maintain beverages in a supercooled state, preventing freezing and ensuring the formation of slush beverages while minimizing energy consumption and storage needs by using a single cooler for both chilled and supercooled beverages.
Implementation Method 1
The beverage is cooled below its freezing point but remains in a liquid state, and is a 'supercooled' liquid
Implementation Method 2
a temperature sensor arranged within the cabinet, wherein the temperature sensor is configured to detect a temperature within the cabinet
Implementation Method 3
the control unit is configured to control the cooling unit so as to maintain a temperature within the cabinet at a predetermined temperature as determined by the temperature sensor
Implementation Method 4
Once agitated, the beverage undergoes nucleation and begins to turn into a partial solid or slush beverage
Data Source
AI summary
A cooler includes a cabinet having an interior volume for storing a beverage container containing a beverage and a door for providing access to the interior volume of the cabinet. The cooler further includes a lock configured to maintain door in a closed position when the lock is engaged. The cooler includes a cooling unit configured to maintain the cabinet at a predetermined temperature and a temperature sensor arranged within the cabinet that detects a temperature within the cabinet. A control unit is in communication with the cooling unit and the temperature sensor, and the control unit is configured to control the cooling unit to maintain a temperature within the cabinet at a predetermined temperature as determined by the temperature sensor. The control unit may be configured to lock the door until a temperature within the cabinet is at the predetermined temperature.