Title of Invention

MOBILE FREEZER UNITS

Abstract

A mobile freezer unit consisting of an evaporator associated with a cool chamber capable of being mounted on a mobile platform, said evaporator having inlet and outlet means; a remotely located stationary ground placed compressor and condenser unit; flexible pipe and detachable / coupling means for connection the outlets and inlets of the evaporator and the condenser in an operative Configuration when the cool chamber is required to be cooled.

Full Text

FORM-2 THE PATENTS ACT, 1970 COMPLETE specification SECTION-10 MOBILE FREEZER UNITS KIRLOSKAR COPELAND LIMITED Of 1202/1 Ghde Road, Pune 411 005, Maharashtra, India, an Indian Company THE FOLLOWING SPECIFICATION PARTICULARLY DESCRIBES . THE NATURE OF TfflS INVENTION AND THE MANNER IN WfflCH IT IS TO BE PERFORMED:- CiS*^' 3-4-2002 This invention relates to mobile freezer units. Particularly this invention relates to mobile freezer units which include an evaporator and expansion unit and a cooling chamber and a condenser with a compressor. Mobile freezer units are increasingly becoming popular for transportation of food and other products that need to dispensed in a frozen or chilled state at the point of delivery. Such food products could include ice creams, aerated or mineral waters and even other food items that are required to be delivered at temperatures considerably below room temperatures. A mobile freezer unit typically includes a manually or a motor driven tricycle having a built platform on which a freezer unit is placed. The items 5- such as ice cream or aerated water are placed in the cool chamber of the freezer and the freezer is operated till the desired dispensing temperature in the chamber is achieved. The freezer is then ridden or driven by the rider of the tricycle to the point of delivery for vending of the products and the products are dispensed. The tricycle is then driven back to the point of supply usually at night, recharged with a fresh load of food items to be dispensed and cooled generally overnight by plugging the unit to a source of power supply. This cycle continues daily. The freezers are generally only placed on the tricycle platform but the weight of the freezers preclude lifting the freezer off the platform and generally, the freezers are left on the platform itself for the cooling cycle at the point of supply. x 2 / A principal object of this invention is to reduce the load required to be carried by the mobile freezer rider and make the freezer unit more portable than is possible with the hitherto known mobile freezer units. Another object of this invention is to prevent frequent repair and maintenance required to the hitherto prior art mobile freezers as a result of severing of the rigid pipes between the evaporator and the condenser units. According to this invention there is provided mobile freezer unit consisting of an evaporator associated with a cool chamber capable of being mounted on a mobile platform, said evaporator having inlet and outlet means; a remotely located stationary ground placed compressor and condenser unit; flexible pipe and detachable coupling means for connection the outlets and inlets of the evaporator and the condenser in an operative configuration when the cool chamber is required to be cooled. Thus the main feature of this invention is the separation of the compressor and the condenser unit from the mobile freezer. It is obvious that the weight of the freezer unit will be reduced substantially and the freezer will be more portable. It will now be possible to make multiple deliveries on the same day as alternatively one freezer unit could be placed for cooling at the point of supply while a cooled freezer unit will be ridden away for deliveries. There are also less chances of break down because the condenser/ compressor unit which is stationary is not subject to the wear and tear of transportation. Breakdown is also reduced because of the replacement of the rigid couplings between the evaporator and the condenser with flexible couplings. 3 In accordance with another aspect of the invention the coupling means also include a provision for recharging refrigerant fluid as and when required. Further, one condenser unit and compressor can be used to cool a plurality of evaporators and cool chambers of different freezers. The invention further envisages providing flexible hoses, non-return valves and couplers for connecting the stationary condenser unit/compressor to the mobile evaporator unit/cooling chamber. The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a schem atic drawing of a conventional mobile freezer unit; Figure 2 is a schem atic drawing of a mobile freezer unit in accordance with this invention; Figure 3 is a schematic drawing of compressor and condenser unit for the freezer unit of figure 2; Figures 4 and 5 show details of one embodiment of the coupling means for coupling the condenser unit to the evaporator unit of figure 2; Figure 6 illustrated how a single condenser unit can operate multiple mobile evaporator units; and Figure 7 shows details of the coupling unit which includes recharging features. 4 Referring to the drawings, a prior art mobile freezer unit is shown in figure 1 of the drawings. The prior art mobile freezer unit generally indicated by the reference numeral 10 consists of a condenser unit 12 associated with a compressor 14 and an evaporator unit 16 having a cooling chamber [not shown]. The condenser unit 12 and the evaporator unit 16 are rigidly connected to each other by rigid coupling means 18. The mobile freezer unit 10 is mounted on a mobile platform 20. The condenser/compressor unit is connected to an electric supply source 22. Figure 2 shows the scheme of the mobile freezer unit 100 in accordance with this invention. In figure 2, the condenser unit 112 with the compressor 114 are located on a ground stationary location connected to an electric supply source 122, whereas the evaporator unit 116 with its associated cooling chamber is provided on a mobile platform 120. Figure 2 shows the scheme when the mobile platform is brought in to the stationary site for cooling of the evaporator unit. In the operative configuration shown, the condenser unit is externally coupled to the evaporator unit 116 by means of a flexible coupling arrangement 118. Figure 3 shows the inoperative configuration of the condenser unit 112 with the evaporator unit detached. Figures 4 and 5 show the details of one embodiment of the coupling arrangement 118. As seen in figures 4 and 5, the coupling arrangement shown consists of a ball and spring type coupling arrangement consisting of two elements, the female element 124 fitted to a flexible tube 126 fitted to the condenser unit 112 and the male element 130 secured to a flexible pipe 5 128 fitted to the evaporator unit 116. As seen in figures 4 and 5, pipes 126 and and 128 have valves which can be open and shut. Coupling is achieved between the two elements 124 and 130 by a ball and spring mechanism 132 provided in the female element 124 and a seat 134 provided in the male element 130. Valve 136 controls the flow. Figure 6 illustrates how a single stationary condenser unit 112 is able to cool multiple evaporator units 116 mounted on independent mobile platforms 120. It is envisaged in accordance with this invention that the periodic coupling and decoupling of the condenser and evaporator units will be accompanied by small amounts of losses of refrigerant fluid. The invention therefore imslges the use of afefrigerant recharging unit 140\as seen in figure 7 and ' a communication orifice 142 provided on the coupling means to periodically .charge the system with refrigerant. While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the structures and structural interrelationships between the component parts of the preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that many embodiments can be made and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principals of the invention. These and other changes in the preferred embodiment as well as other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation. 6 We Claim: 1. A mobile freezer unit consisting of an evaporator associated with a cool chamber capable of being mounted on a mobile platform, said evaporator having inlet and outlet means; a remotely located stationary ground placed compressor and condenser unit; flexible pipe and detachable / coupling means for connection the outlets and inlets of the evaporator and the condenser in an operative Configuration when the cool chamber is required to be cooled. 2. A mobile freezer unit as claimed in claim 1, in which the coupling means includes means to coupleiit with a refrigerant recharging means. 3. A mobile freezer unit as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, in which the coupling means is adapted to connect one condenser unit to a plurality of evaporator unit. 4. A mobile freezer unit as described herein with reference to figures 2 to 7 of the accompanying drawings. Dated this 2nd day of April 2002 Mosin Dewan Of R. K. Dewan&Co., Applicants' Patent Attorney 7

Documents:

171-mum-2001-cancelled pages(23-05-2003).pdf

171-mum-2001-claim(granted)-(03-04-2002).doc

171-mum-2001-claims(complete)-(3-4-2002).pdf

171-mum-2001-claims(granted)-(03-04-2002).pdf

171-mum-2001-claims(granted)-(26-12-2006).pdf

171-mum-2001-correspondence(22-01-2007).pdf

171-mum-2001-correspondence(ipo)-(19-10-2004).pdf

171-mum-2001-correspondence(ipo)-(23-2-2007).pdf

171-mum-2001-description(complete)-(3-4-2002).pdf

171-mum-2001-description(granted)-(26-12-2006).pdf

171-mum-2001-description(provisional)-(13-2-2001).pdf

171-mum-2001-drawing(03-04-2002).pdf

171-mum-2001-drawing(3-4-2002).pdf

171-mum-2001-drawing(granted)-(26-12-2006).pdf

171-mum-2001-form 1(13-02-2001).pdf

171-mum-2001-form 13(22-01-2007).pdf

171-mum-2001-form 13(22-1-2007).pdf

171-mum-2001-form 19(12-8-2003).pdf

171-mum-2001-form 19(23-5-2003).pdf

171-mum-2001-form 2(complete)-(3-4-2002).pdf

171-mum-2001-form 2(granted)-(03-04-2002).doc

171-mum-2001-form 2(granted)-(03-04-2002).pdf

171-mum-2001-form 2(granted)-(26-12-2006).pdf

171-mum-2001-form 2(provisional)-(13-2-2001).pdf

171-mum-2001-form 2(title page)-(complete)-(3-4-2002).pdf

171-mum-2001-form 2(title page)-(granted)-(26-12-2006).pdf

171-mum-2001-form 2(title page)-(provisional)-(13-2-2001).pdf

171-mum-2001-form 3(06-09-2001).pdf

171-mum-2001-form 3(11-9-2001).pdf

171-mum-2001-form 3(13-02-2001).pdf

171-mum-2001-form 4(11-02-2002).pdf

171-mum-2001-form 5(03-04-2002).pdf

171-mum-2001-other document(22-05-2003).pdf

171-mum-2001-power of attorney(13-02-2001).pdf

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