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Cooling garmentRelated Patent Categories: Refrigeration, Structural Installation, With Body ApplicatorCooling garment description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060201178, Cooling garment. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
RELATED APPLICATION DATA [0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 10/453,863 which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/388,609, filed Jun. 3, 2002, and which is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 10/162,119, filed Jun. 3, 2002, which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 08/933,639 filed Sep. 19, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,398,048. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates to a device and method of construction of a container or closure used to cool a liquid by means of pervaporation. BACKGROUND OF THE RELATED ART [0003] Evaporative cooling of both dwellings and water originated in Ancient Egypt and subsequently spread eastward through the Middle-East and Iran, to the north of India, westward across north Africa to southern Spain and other regions suffering from a hot and dry climate. In the initial use of this process non-glazed clay pots were used for centuries for the storage of water with the added side benefit of cooling the liquid water contents by absorbing and wicking the water to the outer clay surface followed by the evaporation of the water from this surface. Unfortunately, evaporation directly from the outer clay surface eventually lead to scale formation and reduced cooling efficiency as the minerals build up on this surface reducing the liquid permeability and lowering the liquid vapor pressure. [0004] Other methods based on heat transfer reduction from the environment to the liquid have been used. Methods that have been used include vacuum and air gap thermoses, and foam insulative jackets. Additional devices using ice, frozen cold packs or sticks have been used to compensate for heating by surrounding environment and the return of the liquid in the container to ambient temperature. In all these cases the design of the system necessitates that the liquid contents, a separate chamber and/or the shell of the bottle be cooled leading to excessive weight in addition to a liquid volume displacement loss in the container. In all of these methods, the temperature of the liquid will equilibrate and eventually return to the ambient temperature. [0005] Pervaporation (PV) is defined as a combination of matrix vapor permeation and evaporation. From 1987 on, membrane pervaporation has gained wide acceptance by the chemical industry for the separation and recovery of liquid mixtures (Chemical Engineering Progress, pp. 45-52, July 1992). The technique is characterized by the introduction of a barrier matrix between a liquid and a gaseous phase. A liquid is in intimate contact with one side of the matrix. Mass transfer of vapor occurs selectively to the gas side of the matrix resulting in the loss of liquid or the loss of select volatile liquid components and the loss of evaporative latent heat. The process is termed pervaporation because of the unique combination of vapor "permeation" through the porous matrix and the liquid to vapor phase change "vaporization". Without heat added to the liquid, the temperature falls due to the latent heat of vaporization until an equilibrium temperature is reached where the heat absorbed from the environment is equal to the latent heat lost due to liquid evaporation at the matrix surface or within the pores. [0006] U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,931 illustrates the use of an evaporative cooling PTFE membrane device using a stream of fluid in a laminar flow profile above a membrane in order to cool an attached device or environment. U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,741 illustrates the use of a pervaporative cooling matrix to cool the surface of the plate of an electrochemical cell. The moist plate may be made from uncatalyzed PTFE-bonded electrode material, a suitable porous sintered powder, porous fibers, or even a porous polymer film. U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,601 demonstrates the use of evaporative cooling in a circulating porous hollow heat exchanger to obtain a cooled fluid. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0007] Disclosed herein is a simplified pervaporative cooling system for beverage and liquid containers that does not use mechanical pumps to supply liquid to the pervaporative matrix surface and does not rely on vacuum to enhance the cooling efficiency as in the prior art referenced above. A container is defined as any apparatus or enclosure that holds liquid whether it is open or closed to the external environment. One embodiment of this invention utilizes a pervaporative matrix that preferably forms part of the container body or housing and comprises between 5 to 100% of the total surface area of the container or housing. The liquid contents of the container are cooled directly at the surrounding liquid/membrane interface due to the latent heat of evaporation of the water. The resulting liquid vapor is lost through the matrix to the surrounding environment or to a collector or trap such as may comprise an absorbent material. Preferred containers include bottles, jars, carboys and pouches. The containers may, in some embodiments, be fabricated into larger structures, including housings, dispensers, and garments. [0008] In one embodiment, there is provided a pervaporatively cooled container, comprising a container body comprising one or more walls, wherein at least a portion of said one or more walls comprises a pervaporative matrix, said matrix comprising a porous hydrophobic material, wherein said matrix allows for the passage of small quantities of a volatile liquid vapor through the matrix, the evaporation of which cools the container, including any contents within the container. In one embodiment, there is provided a pervaporatively cooled tube or straw, comprising an elongated hollow tubular structure comprising an outer pervaporative layer comprising a hydrophobic material coextensive with a porous internal layer comprising a hydrophilic material, the internal layer defining a lumen through which a liquid can pass. In one embodiment, the tubular structure is formed from a hydrophobic porous tube in which the inner surface of the tube has been chemically treated to be hydrophilic, thus forming the internal layer. [0009] In one embodiment, there is provided a cooling jacket for a container, comprising a jacket body comprising an outer layer comprising a hydrophobic porous material; and an inner layer coextensive with said outer layer and in fluid communication with said outer layer, said inner layer being adapted to hold a volatile liquid wherein said jacket body is shaped to allow the inner layer to contact at least a portion of a container. [0010] In a preferred embodiment, the containers and cooling jackets may further comprise a regenerable or disposable outer layer, directly adjacent to or in contact with the pervaporative layer, comprising a desiccant, absorbent material or other substance that absorbs or adsorbs the moisture or other fluid resulting from pervaporation. [0011] In one embodiment, there is provided a cooling garment comprising at least two layers: an outer layer comprising a pervaporative material comprising a hydrophobic pervaporative laminate; an optional middle layer comprising a thin support liquid barrier layer for the pervaporative layer; and an inner layer; wherein the outer layer is in fluid communication with a body of coolant liquid, and the inner layer is in thermal contact with the wearer of the garment. The wearer of the garment is cooled by the pervaporation of the coolant liquid through the pervaporative material of the outer layer. In a preferred embodiment, the cooling garment is incorporated or integrated into a piece of clothing such as a protective garment or suit. The garment may further comprise a tube in fluid communication with the body of coolant liquid that allows the wearer of the garment to orally consume coolant liquid, preferably water. In a preferred embodiment, the garment further comprises a regenerable or disposable outer layer comprising a desiccant or an absorbent material that absorbs the moisture or other fluid resulting from pervaporation. [0012] In preferred embodiments, one or more of the following may also be present: the garment is in thermal contact either by direct contact with the skin or contact through a piece of fabric or material, such fabric or material being worn by the wearer of the garment and/or being part of the garment itself; the outer layer is pleated to increase surface area for pervaporation; the middle layer is a barrier to potentially hazardous biological or chemical materials; and the inner layer comprises patterned or serpentine regions formed by a heat sealing process. [0013] In a related embodiment, the garment may further comprise or be in fluid communication with a reservoir holding additional coolant liquid. The coolant can be fed into the interstices formed between the pervaporative matrix and the middle layer from the reservoir by gravity or by wicking. Preferred coolant liquids comprise water, alcohols, and blends thereof. [0014] In related embodiments, containers such as bottles or backpacks comprising pervaporative material, as described below, are also provided. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0015] FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a bottle in plan and exploded view in which a generally planar porous matrix may be wrapped around or pushed over a bottle body as a cylinder. [0016] FIG. 2 shows a partially exploded view of a multilayered structure according to one embodiment comprising a thin membrane layered between two macroporous layers [0017] FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C and 3D, illustrates plan and cut away views of embodiments in which support ribs enhance the rigidity of a porous matrix. [0018] FIG. 4 shows a container comprising an outer porous insulative layer. This sleeve reduces direct radiative warming of the inner bottle surface, yet allows for the pervaporative flux and loss of latent heat. [0019] FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of container comprising a pleated matrix which serves as a method for increasing the effective cooling surface area of the container. This allows for a higher surface area and quicker liquid cool down time for the container. Continue reading about Cooling garment... Full patent description for Cooling garment Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Cooling garment patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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