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Self-Heating Coffee Hacking
ptorrone writes "Awhile back I wrote about the new Wolfgang Puck self-heating coffee containers that took 10 years and $24 mil to develop. Well, I managed to find them in a local store and bought them to take apart to see how they work. Once activated, they reach 145 degrees in about 6 minutes. This isn't a review of the beverage, it's all about the stuff that makes the liquid hot, how it works, pictures and links to patents. I am looking in to how these could be recycled too."
The army has been using this technology in its rations for a loooong time now.
If you like what I've said here, and want to read more, go to http://www.krillrblog.com
Lots of pictures... try this Coral cache
-Code
It's been mentioned time and time again that Google does not cache images. If you want a backup, use the coral cache or Mirrordot
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
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t ml
The hack is cool.
But this crappy coffee can is worthy of a patent? A calcium oxide/water reaction learned in any highschool advanced chemistry class?
Reading the patent below, I must wonder if those who give out patents get lost in the gobbely-gook of the descriptions not to see that it seems to fail the basic requirements of a patent:
http://www.patentsearchexpress.com/requirements.h
Especially in the view of non-obviousness in view of prior art. Self-heating pads using assorted chemicals have been around for a long time. How long was it before someone applied it to not to hands but to food/drinks which we've been warming up since like forever. This is question of application, not innovation.
I also have to question the $24 million to develop this thing. Reminds me when GE (or maybe whirlpool???) came out with front-loading washers like 10 years or so ago and announced it took $100M to develop and spouting all the benefits of the system (lower water consumption, etcetera). When the europeans have been using front-loaders since at least the '50s, you gotta wonder who's been embezzling all that cash.
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(From The article}
United States Patent 5,461,867
Scudder , et al. October 31, 1995
Container with integral module for heating or cooling the contents
Abstract
An outer container for holding a material, such as a food, beverage or medicine with a sealed thermic module inside the container. The thermic module contains chemical reactants that mix upon actuation of the container by a user. Mixing of the reactants produces an exothermic or endothermic chemical reaction, depending upon the reactants selected. The contents of the outer container surround a portion of the outside surface of the thermic module, thereby facilitating conduction of heat. The thermic module has a hollow module body that is closed at one end and a module cap that seals the other end of the module body. The module body contains the solid reactant, and the module cap contains the liquid reactant. The module cap has a tubular section with a flexible member closing one end and a breakable barrier closing the other end. With the exception of the barrier, the cap is of unitary construction. The cap has one or more integrally formed prongs extending from the inner surface of the disc toward the barrier. The prongs move in an axial direction toward the barrier and may also spread apart radially when the outer surface of the flexible member or an actuator connected to it is depressed by the user's finger. The dual motion of the prongs in both axial and radial directions promotes complete puncturing of the barrier and thus fast mixing of the reactants.
Link.
there's a reply on the blog engine that mentions http://www.heatermeals.com/heatermeals.html . apparently these do exactly what you're thinking of and were used extensively in some of the hurricane areas where power was out for days = no alternative for hot meals
According to USA Today, the retail price is around $2.25.
-c
I subscribe to Consumer Reports, which has reviewed them in the 08/05 issue. They apparently go for $9 per four pack. Not TOO much more than current cold coffee drinks, but I think those are more than 10oz, right? I know I usually drink a 16 in the morning.
A catch, they said, is that you have to store them at room temperature. On a cold day, apparently, they won't get as hot (108 was all that they could get after putting it in the fridge).
Actually - they put a tennis ball can lid (you know, the kind that you have to pop & peel?) over the heat button to curtail that.
I'm not sure what the secret to success is, but the secret to failure lies in trying to please everyone -Bill Cosby
Be warned that the previos poster's opinion is wrong and he's not entitled to it. The PDF isn't related and the other blogger isn't better.
We don't have those fancy things in Canada as far as I know but I wouldn't buy em if we did. First of all it looks like you don't get very much coffee and second it looks expensive and third you're allways in driving distance of a Tim Hortons anyways.
How often are you so far from a power source that you can't spend $10 and get a small coffee cup sized hotplate?
Silly silly silly
On the other hand if you could somehow drain the coffee and put a heat activated smoke bomb or something in there than they'd sell
I don't think anyone appreciates how funny this is. If you've ever seen the directions for how to use the heater packet for an MRE you'd know what this is about. There is a line drawing of someone using the heater and how it must be propped up in order to work correctly since it contains water. There is a label that points to the thing it's propped up against and it says "rock, or something." Brilliant.
On a side note, I once took my girlfriend camping and I went to the trouble to bring out all the ingredients for stir fry, including the wok. Well, one of my friends showed up with a case of MREs and she decided she'd rather have one of those. Did I write girlfriend? I think I meant to write ex-girlfriend.
http://www.rootstrikers.org/
That doesn't make any sense. The MRE heaters are unaffected by altitude or starting temperature (a specific requirement by the military).
In fact, many MRE's are frozen and contain two of the heater packs. One to thaw the food and another to heat it.
Maybe these coffee things are using a crappier chemical heater?