Defrost indicator
First Claim
1. A device comprising:
- walls enclosing an indicator including at least a material that has at least two states that are visibly distinct from one another,a first of the two states occurs when the indicator is initially frozen anda second of the two states occurs as a result of the indicator defrosting and refreezing, the walls including at least one wall having at least a portion through which the material is visible while the material is in at least one of the at least two states, the state of the indicator being determinable by looking into the window.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A defrost indicator is configured such that the process of freezing and defrosting the defrost indicator places the defrost indicator into a state that is not completely reversed by refreezing, so that one can detect whether the defrost indicator defrosted and refroze or never defrosted by observing its current state. In an embodiment, the defrost indicator is initially placed in a first state before being frozen (e.g., upside down with fluid in an upper chamber). Freezing the defrost indicator places it in a second state (e.g., with the fluid frozen in the upper chamber). Then when the defrost indicator is defrosted, the defrost indicator is placed into a third state that is different than the first state (e.g., right-side-up with liquid fluid in the lower chamber). If the defrost indicator is again frozen, the defrost indicator is placed into a fourth state (e.g., the fluid frozen in the lower chamber).
39 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A device comprising:
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walls enclosing an indicator including at least a material that has at least two states that are visibly distinct from one another, a first of the two states occurs when the indicator is initially frozen and a second of the two states occurs as a result of the indicator defrosting and refreezing, the walls including at least one wall having at least a portion through which the material is visible while the material is in at least one of the at least two states, the state of the indicator being determinable by looking into the window. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A device comprising:
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a container having at least walls, and a fluid in the container that only fills a portion of the container, the container having walls that are contoured to support the fluid while the fluid is frozen; as a result of the walls that are contoured the fluid is held in a first location while the fluid is frozen, the first location being within the container having the contoured walls, as long as the fluid remains frozen, and the fluid is allowed to flow to another location as the fluid melts.
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17. A method comprising:
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freezing a fluid in a location where the fluid is supported as long as the fluid remains frozen, the fluid flowing away from the location as the fluid melts, the flowing of the fluid being visible. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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19. A method comprising:
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forming an indicator by at least contouring at least a first location within the indicator where the frozen fluid is initially stored to support the frozen fluid; the contouring of at least the first location causing a second location to be formed, second location being a location within the indicator where the fluid flows to when the fluid melts; forming a transparent portion on the indicator, via which the frozen fluid in the container may viewed; and placing a liquid within the indicator in the first location.
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Specification