Portable food cooling device

• US 8,347,781 B2
• Filed: 10/04/2007
• Issued: 01/08/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Stackley Devices, LLC
• Original Assignee: Stackley Devices, LLC
• Inventors: Stack, William Joseph
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoang, Tu B
• Assistant Examiner(s): SPURLOCK, BRETT SHANE
• Application Number:
  US11/906,788
• Publication Number:
  US 20090090251A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,923 Days
• Field of Search: 994/96, 62/36, 624/573, 624/574, 22020301-20309
• US Class Current: 99/496
• CPC Class Codes: A47G 19/26 Butter or cheese dishes or covers, with or without cooling or heating devices; Protective covers for food containers

Abstract

A food cooling device includes a cover, an electric motor powering a fan, and an automatic switch. The cover defines air intake openings beneath a motor housing, a bottom orifice, and vents between the air intake openings and the orifice. The bottom opening rests on a table, covering a plate containing hot food. A fan blade directs air toward the food, the air cools the food, and the heated air escapes through the vents. The cooling device is portable, light in weight, and easy to operate, making it suitable for use by small children as well as handicapped persons of all ages.

Claims

1. A portable device for cooling hot food served on a dish so as to quickly render the served hot food sufficiently cool to be safely eaten without burning a person'"'"'s mouth, lips or fingers, in combination with the dish of hot food, said portable device comprising:

(a) a cover comprising a generally dome-shaped plastic body defining a bottom opening circumscribing said dish and sized to fit laterally exteriorly over the dish but not contacting with said hot food, said body having a plurality of vents extending laterally through the plastic body between an upper location of the cover and said bottom opening through which vapors emanating from the hot food on the dish will be released outside said plastic body,

(b) a motor compartment spaced upwardly of said bottom opening located at said upper location of the cover, said compartment containing an electric motor, at least one battery for powering the motor to rotate a fan shaft connected with the motor, a gravity sensitive switch including a magnet and operating automatically in response to changes in position of the portable device for turning the motor on and off wherein the motor is on when the portable device is upside-down an off when the portable device is right-side up, and

(c) at least one fan blade extending from the fan shaft, said fan blade being spaced upwardly of said bottom opening.

2. The portable food cooling device of claim 1 wherein said switch is an automatic switch stopping the motor when the bottom opening is positioned so that the motor compartment is downward of the bottom opening.

3. The portable food cooling device of claim 1 wherein said switch is manually controlled.

4. The portable food cooling device of claim 1 wherein said plastic body comprises polystyrene foam.

5. The portable food cooling device of claim 1 wherein said plastic body includes an exterior surface decorated with printed indicia.

6. The portable food cooling device of claim 5 wherein said printed indicia include cartoon characters.

7. The portable food cooling device of claim 1 further comprising at least one handle extending laterally outwardly of said plastic body, adjacent said bottom opening.

8. The portable food cooling device of claim 1 wherein said fan blade comprises a washable plastic material.

9. The portable food cooling device of claim 1 wherein said bottom opening is circular.

10. The portable food cooling device of claim 1 wherein said motor compartment is covered by a housing and said plastic body defines a plurality of air intake openings between said housing and said vents, said housing being located exteriorly of the air intake openings.

11. A process for cooling heated food served on a dish to render the heated food sufficiently cool so as to be more safely eaten without burning a person'"'"'s mouth, lips or fingers, said process comprising:

(a) covering the dish of heated food with a food cooling device that will not contact the heated food on the dish, said food cooling device comprising a cover defining a bottom opening circumscribing said dish, said food cooling device including an electric fan powered by a battery operated electric motor, said fan having at least one fan blade spaced downwardly of said motor, said motor being located in a compartment spaced upwardly of said dish, said compartment being covered by a housing, said cover defining a plurality of air intake openings concealed by said housing when the cover is positioned above said dish, said cover also defining a plurality of vents between the housing and the bottom opening of the cover,

(b) cooling said food by rotating said blade to draw air into the compartment, drawing said air inwardly through the air intake openings toward the food, and then conducting said air away from said food, outwardly through the vents and outside said cover, and

(c) lifting said cover from said dish to reveal the cooled food whereby the electric fan includes a gravity sensitive switch including a magnet and operating automatically in response to changes in position of the portable device for turning the electric fan on and off wherein the electric fan is on when the portable device is upside-down an off when the portable device is right-side up.

12. The process of claim 11 wherein said compartment contains an automatic switch for turning said motor on and off, said process further comprising:

(d) automatically switching said motor on when the compartment is positioned above the bottom opening and automatically switching said motor off when the compartment is positioned below the bottom opening.