Patent ID: 7444831

Claim:
A beverage cooling container comprising: a container body comprising a floor, a container wall extending from the floor, and a filling opening, the floor and the wall defining a contained area, the contained area having an upper end; a water level limiter, associated with the contained area, for limiting a water level in the contained area to a water level limit positioned between the floor and the filling opening, the water level limit defining a chilling zone having a chilling zone height extending between the floor and the limit, and defining an ice reserve zone for storing reserve ice to replenish the chilling zone, the reserve zone having a reserve zone height extending from the limit to the upper end, the reserve zone height being more than one-ninth the chilling zone height; and a beverage chiller, positioned at least partly within the chilling zone, configured to facilitate chilling within the chilling zone; whereby as ice in the chilling zone melts, ice from the ice reserve zone moves down to the chilling zone to replenish the chilling zone; and wherein the container body further comprises an anti-bridging element sized, shaped and positioned to prevent the bridging of ice in the ice reserve zone against the beverage chiller, and to facilitate the descent of the ice in the ice reserve zone to the chilling zone.