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US 6,319,535 B1Granted
Confections that “swim” in a carbonated beverage
OwnerLaurence J. Shawinventor
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OwnerLaurence J. Shawinventor
Estimating the term…
An edible confection with a recognizable shape which repeatedly rises and sinks, i.e., “swims,” in a transparent carbonated beverage due to changing buoyancy resulting from the formation of carbonation bubbles on the surface of the confection, and the escape of the bubbles to the atmosphere when the confection reaches the top of the beverage. The ability of the confection to ascend and descend is determined by the density, volume and surface area of the confection, and the volume per unit surface area of bubbles which form on the confection. For a thin confection the conditions for ascension and descension are substantially independent of the dimensions other than the thickness. Bubble nucleation is promoted by a surface which is rough on small length scales, and large bubbles can be retained on the surface if the confection is smooth on larger length scales. A low solubility confection is preferred because the dimensions of the confection and its surface properties are relatively invariant with time, and the submerged confection has little effect on the appearance and the level of carbonation of the beverage. The number of confections in the beverage is chosen to be large enough that one or more confections are usually in motion, yet not so large that the confections inhibit the swimming motions of each other. In a preferred embodiment the confections are soft and colorful, and the recognizable shapes of the confections are marine-related shapes.
A set of articles for submersion in a carbonated beverage, each of the articles being formed in a recognizable shape selected from the group consisting of shapes of human figures, animal figures, marine-related shapes, fantasy characters, cartoon characters and vehicles and having a specific gravity β, a volume V, and a surface area A, such that
A set of articles of cardinality N for submersion in a carbonated beverage, each of the articles having a specific gravity β and being substantially thin with a thickness T across a first direction, a width W1 across a second direction, a length W2 across a third direction, said first, said second and said third directions being orthogonal, such that
A set of articles for submersion in a carbonated beverage, each of the articles having a specific gravity β, and being substantially flat with a thickness T across a first direction, a width W1 across a second direction, and a length W2 across a third direction, a volume V, a surface area A, and a steady-state volume per unit area h(∞) occupied by attached carbonation bubbles when submerged in said carbonated beverage, said first, said second and said third directions being orthogonal, such that
A set of articles for submersion in a carbonated beverage, the articles having an average specific gravity β, an average thickness T, and an average steady-state bubble volume per unit area h(∞) occupied by carbonation bubbles attached to the articles when submerged in said carbonated beverage, such that
An article for submersion in a carbonated beverage, the article having a specific gravity β, a volume V, and a surface area A, such that
A method for providing an amusement system for use with a carbonated beverage, comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.