Apparatus and method for making ice cream products
Patent No. US7455868 (titled "Apparatus and method for making ice cream products") on Dec 2, 2003. The application was issued on Nov 25, 2008.
What is this patent about?
'868 is related to the field of food preparation, specifically the rapid creation of ice cream products. Traditionally, ice cream was pre-made, limiting immediate customization. Prior art addresses this with closed systems using liquid nitrogen, but lacked the visual appeal and customer interaction.
The underlying idea behind '868 is to create a visually engaging ice cream making process by using an open container and cryogenic liquefied gas to instantly freeze ingredients. The key is to allow the cold vapor produced during the freezing process to be visible to the customer, enhancing the experience.
The claims of '868 focus on a method involving placing ice cream ingredients into an open-top container, selectively dispensing a cryogenic liquefied gas (like liquid nitrogen) from a tank into the container via a control valve, and mechanically mixing the ingredients with the gas. Crucially, a sufficient amount of gas is used to generate a visible flow of cryogenic vapor from the open container.
In practice, the invention uses a standard food mixer with a dispensing line for the cryogenic gas. A deflector positioned above the container redirects the vapor laterally, keeping it low and visible. This creates a cloud effect around the container, enhancing the spectacle. A heater prevents the ice cream from freezing to the container, and colored lights add to the visual appeal.
The differentiation from prior approaches lies in the open container design, which allows for direct customer interaction and a visually stimulating experience. Unlike closed systems, the visible vapor becomes a key element of the product, turning ice cream making into a form of entertainment. The deflector and lighting further enhance this effect, creating a unique and memorable experience for the customer.
How does this patent fit in bigger picture?
Technical Landscape
In the early 2000s when ’868 was filed, commercial ice cream production was typically implemented using large-scale batch freezing or pre-manufactured distribution models at a time when on-demand customization was limited by the thermal latency of traditional refrigeration. When systems commonly relied on closed-cycle cooling or pre-frozen storage rather than atmospheric cryogenic mixing, the rapid preparation of individual servings was constrained by the need to manage extreme temperature gradients. Hardware constraints made the safe and aesthetically controlled venting of cryogenic byproducts non-trivial, as standard food service architectures were designed for containment rather than the managed release of vapor clouds in an open-container environment.
Prosecution Position
Following the filing of this application, the examiner issued a final rejection of claims 1-11 under 35 U.S.C. 103(a). The record indicates that the applicant submitted amendments and arguments on December 11, 2006, but these were deemed moot by the examiner in view of new grounds of rejection. While the application later proceeded to allowance, the provided prosecution record does not describe the specific technical reasoning or claim changes that led to that outcome.
Claims
This patent contains 12 claims, with claim 1 being the only independent claim. Independent claim 1 focuses on a method of making ice cream using cryogenic liquefied gas dispensed into an open container while mechanically mixing the ingredients. The dependent claims generally elaborate on specific aspects of the method, such as the type of liquefied gas used, container heating, mixing methods, container types, vapor management, and the inclusion of solid ingredients.
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US7455868
- Application Number
- US10725000A
- Filing Date
- Dec 2, 2003
- Publication Date
- Nov 25, 2008
- External Links
- Slate, USPTO, Google Patents